We are starting to learn more about the cost of the future vaccine being developed by Sanofi and GSK laboratories against Covid-19.
If "it is not quite defined yet", it will be "less than ten euros" the dose, said Olivier Bogillot, president of Sanofi France, this Saturday on France Inter.
“We are in the process of measuring all of the production costs that will be ours in the coming months,” said the president of the pharmaceutical company.
"We will be less than ten euros" a dose, he said, welcoming the "sharing of risks with States" which allows prices to be "as low as possible".
Internal resources
Coming back to the price around 2.50 euros per dose announced by the Anglo-Swedish competing laboratory AstraZeneca, Olivier Bogillot explained the difference by the fact that Sanofi uses all its resources "internally", its "own researchers and its own factories. To develop and produce the vaccine, while AstraZeneca "has outsourced production a lot".
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"The French and Europeans will have the Sanofi vaccine at the same time as American patients," he said.
"We signed during the summer with the Americans, the same week with the Europeans and with the British", summed up the leader.
In the end, the United States will have around 100 million doses, the Europeans 300 million and Great Britain 60 million.
Made in Val-de-Marne
For the European part, the vaccine will be manufactured in France, in Vitry-sur-Seine (Val-de-Marne), recalled the manager, welcoming the association of his group with the British GSK for this operation.
"It is not common to partner with a competitor but it is rather healthy in this war against the Covid", he said.
“Millions of doses” will also be supplied to developing countries via the Sepi structure at “quite exceptional” pricing conditions.
Asked about Sanofi's plan to combine six of its European sites specializing in active pharmaceutical ingredients into an independent company, in order to reduce the growing dependence of global laboratories on Asian production, he confirmed the group's plan. "To introduce on the stock market" the new entity "in the coming months".
"European champion of active ingredients"
"The idea is to make a champion of active ingredients at European level," he said, referring to this project announced since February 24.
"If this company already existed, it would be number two in the world," he said.
The project aims to bring together the sites of Brindisi (Italy), Frankfurt Chimie (Germany), Haverhill (United Kingdom), St-Aubin-les-Elbeuf and Vertolaye (France) and Újpest (Hungary).
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The active principles (or API for Active pharmaceutical ingredient) are substances and molecules of plant or chemical origin which give the drug its therapeutic or preventive properties.
The trend for large laboratories is to outsource them to reduce production costs.
Today, 60 to 80% of APIs are produced outside the European Union, mainly in India or China.