Sanofi To Manufacture 125 Million COVID-19 Vaccine Doses For Rival Pfizer-BioNTech

French drug maker Sanofi SA SNY will manufacture 125 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine co-developed by Pfizer Inc PFE and BioNTech SE BNTX in its Frankfurt plant starting this summer.
As Sanofi’s COVID-19 vaccine faces delays, the French government has been pressing the company to use its facilities to manufacture vaccines from rival drug makers due to high demand.
The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“We are very conscious that the earlier vaccine doses are available, the more lives can potentially be saved,” Sanofi CEO Paul Hudson said.
The phase 2 trials of Sanofi’s COVID-19 vaccine developed in partnership with British drug maker GlaxoSmithKline plc GSK will begin next month.
In December, Sanofi and Glaxo said that their COVID-19 vaccine would not be available until late 2021 after trials showed that the vaccine produced an “insufficient” immune response in people over 60.
SNY shares are up 0.77% at $49.53 in the pre-market session.