In the current debate on vaccination and its slowness in France, one name is strangely absent: that of Sanofi.
The French pharmaceutical giant is however supposed to deliver to the European Union 300 million doses of the vaccine against Covid-19 that it is developing with the British group GSK, that is to say as many as the Pfizer / BioNTech alliance.
At least 45 million of these doses should be intended for France, in proportion to its population.
In fact, the schedule is quite behind schedule.
On December 11, the two manufacturers announced that they were banking on an application for authorization by the fourth quarter of 2021, and not in the first six months of the year as initially planned.
In question ?
"Insufficient" results on the elderly during clinical trials, requiring additional work "to improve the immune response".
VIDEO. Covid-19: the first dose of the vaccine administered in a hospital in Seine-Saint-Denis
This phase "2B" study will take place in February, before the recruitment of thousands of volunteers for a possible phase 3 in the second quarter.
But wouldn't it be pointless obstinacy to continue research with such a delay?
"There will be room for everyone"
In France, the government has set itself the goal of vaccinating up to 27 million inhabitants by the summer.
By counting the two doses needed per person and with an inevitable percentage of losses, this corresponds to approximately 70 million doses.
A need that could be largely covered by vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna (authorized a priori this Wednesday) and AstraZeneca or CureVac (which could be in February or early spring).
Other large countries, such as the United States or the United Kingdom, should also be very advanced at the end of the summer.
The experts interviewed agree, however, that Sanofi's stubbornness "makes sense", as health economist Frédéric Bizard sums it up.
“We are living in an exceptional situation of a global pandemic.
There will be several phases: first that for developed countries that have placed orders, then a second phase with other vaccines that will allow these countries to accelerate the pace and others to start vaccinating their own. population ”, he explains.
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“There will be room for everyone if we really want to eradicate the disease because it will then be necessary to vaccinate a large part of the world population,” says Mathieu Molimard, head of the medical pharmacology department of the Bordeaux University Hospital.
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Contacted by Le Parisien, Sanofi is also said to be "confident that there will be a need for more than one vaccine necessary for the entire world population".
If its product is well validated by the end of the year, the group plans to "make the first doses available to the world population immediately."
In addition, vaccinating the population for the first time may not be enough.
It is not yet clear how long - at least several months - the immunity conferred by a vaccine lasts.
"Even imagine that it lasts only one year, that would mean that you will have to vaccinate every year", underlines Mathieu Molimard.
Cheaper and kept in the fridge
If it does happen, the Sanofi vaccine will also have the advantage of being cheaper and requiring less logistics than those using messenger RNA technology from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.
For example, it should not be subjected to a cold chain of - 70 or - 20 degrees.
"Our vaccine can be stored in the refrigerator (at a temperature between + 2 and + 8 degrees), from manufacture to injection, which will make it potentially accessible to a large number of countries", pleads the industrialist headquartered in Paris.
"Sanofi has embarked on a vaccine with protein subunits, it is a technique that takes longer to develop but which may be of interest when the time comes", agrees Anne Sénéquier, co-director of the observatory for global health at the Iris.
The Minister of Higher Education and Research, Frédérique Vidal, did not say anything else this Saturday, January 2.
“France has chosen to use and prepare vaccines whose distribution could be much wider.
You can imagine that in order to vaccinate the world population, it is a little complicated to offer vaccines that need to be delivered at -80 degrees, ”she explained on France Culture.
Several vaccines are still under development.
France is not late, it has made the choice to use and prepare vaccines whose dissemination and sharing could be wider than current vaccines.
The vaccine is a universal good.
@franceculture
- Frédérique Vidal (@VidalFrederique) January 2, 2021
The fact remains that this delay is messy, at least in terms of image and reputation.
Especially since before planning to market in the "first half of 2021", Sanofi had already been at the heart of a controversy last spring.
The general manager of the group, Paul Hudson, then indicated that the United States would have "the right to the largest pre-orders", because of the millions of dollars they have invested.
This little phrase had sparked an uproar in the French political class.
"The goal is for the vaccine to be available both in the United States, in France and in Europe in the same way," immediately sought to reassure the CEO of Sanofi France, Olivier Bogillot, questioned by many media.
Sanofi advantaged under pressure from France?
“They have accumulated a bit of communication hiccups.
I suppose that this time they are assured of a very high probability of releasing their vaccine at the advertised period.
Because it's always easier to explain an error than to persist on a bad track, ”points out Frédéric Bizard.
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This delay would have particularly annoyed the German leaders, subject to the same European calendar as their French counterparts.
On December 18, the weekly Der Spiegel revealed that the French authorities had pressured Europe not to source more from a non-French manufacturer.
The goal?
Do not put Sanofi at a disadvantage.
Several ministers had immediately vigorously denied these revelations, qualified as "false information".
The French laboratory, which “cannot comment on the agreements concluded between the European Commission and any other vaccine manufacturer”, for its part ensures that it “strictly complied with the regulations”.
#Vaccine #Spiegel |
" It is bullshit.
France or any other country has never asked to lower the number of doses of contracts that have been signed.
It's wrong.
We must not lie about these things ”.
@franceinter @CarineBecard # le69Inter pic.twitter.com/g0MQ1ztuDC
- Clement Beaune (@CBeaune) December 21, 2020
“We would still like our national champion to manage to produce a vaccine,” smiles Mathieu Molimard.
And the pharmacology professor concludes: “The principle of research is that we do not always find the right solution the first time.
"
