France says pharma giant Sanofi could make rivals’ Covid vaccines

Sanofi, France’s biggest pharmaceuticalcompany, could help produce foreign-developed Covid-19 vaccines pending the launch of its own vaccine, which will not be ready for months, a government minister said Friday.

Industry Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher told Radio Classique that vaccines developed by BioNTech, which partners with Pfizer, and Janssen, owned by Johnson and Johnson, were the most likely choices for Sanofi to lend a helping hand.

The world has been scrambling to develop and produce enough anti-Covid vaccines, with innoculation drives hampered by limited stocks of doses and logistical constraints.

France had high hopes that its national champion Sanofi would contribute to a first wave of coronavirus inoculations, but the company’s vaccine will not be ready before the end of the year.

Pannier-Runacher said she had therefore begun talks with Sanofi to act as a sub-contractor for other firms while it completed its own Covid jabs.