PARIS: French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi and struggling US rival Novavax announced on Friday (May 10) an alliance to sell a COVID-19 vaccine and develop another that combines with a flu shot.
Under a licensing deal worth up to US$1.2 billion, the companies will co-commercialise Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine worldwide, except in some countries including India, Japan and South Korea, where the US firm already has partnership agreements.
Novavax will receive an upfront payment of US$500 million and up to US$700 million if it reachers certain milestones while Sanofi will take a five per cent stake in the US company.
Sanofi will book sales of Novavax’s protein-based COVID-19 vaccine from 2025.
The French group will be able to develop a combination flu-Covid vaccine using its own flu shots with the US company’s COVID-19 jab.
The announcement comes as pharmaceutical companies have reported drops in sales for COVID-19 vaccines.
Novavax, which is highly dependent on its COVID-19 vaccine, raised doubts last year about its ability to continue its business.
The Maryland-based firm was an early frontrunner in the global vaccine race, but fell behind after being hit by manufacturing and regulatory delays.
For Sanofi, the deal is a chance to develop a combination flu-COVID jab.
“With flu and Covid-19 hospital admission rates now closely mirroring each other, we have an opportunity to develop non-mRNA flu-COVID-19 combination vaccines offering patients both enhanced convenience and protection against two serious respiratory viruses,” said Jean-Francois Toussaint, Sanofi’s global head of vaccine research and development.
