Illustration of the search for a vaccine against Covid.
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On Monday, the Institut Pasteur announced the end of the development of its main vaccine project against Covid-19.
Before that, Sanofi had warned in early December that its vaccine developed with the British GSK had been delayed and would not be ready until the end of 2021.
These two announcements mark a further setback for research.
Why has France fallen so far behind?
For a vaccine made in France, you will have to wait a little longer.
After the pharmaceutical giant Sanofi in December, it is the turn of the Institut Pasteur to stop the development of its main coronavirus vaccine project, he announced in a press release on Monday.
Sanofi, for its part, announced on Tuesday that it would help Pfizer-BioNTech to package its vaccine.
On the side of foreign laboratories, however, the offer is growing.
Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Sputnik V… Each week, its new vaccine on the market.
Why has France fallen so far behind?
Are Sanofi and Pasteur continuing their research?
20 Minutes
takes stock.
What were Sanofi and Pasteur working on?
The Sanofi laboratory was the first to stop the development of its vaccine, on which it was working with the British GSK.
This project is based on the recombinant protein technology that Sanofi used to produce one of these seasonal influenza vaccines and on an adjuvant developed by GSK.
For its part, the Pasteur Institute was working on a vaccine using as a base that against measles, which it had adapted, in collaboration with the American giant Merck.
“The technology used by the Institut Pasteur has been developed for a long time, and has already been done for the vaccine against dengue.
For Sanofi, it is a less innovative, more classic approach, like what is done for the flu vaccine, ”explains Olivier Terrier, CNRS researcher at the International Center for Infectious Disease Research.
“The idea of starting from something you know well could be a relevant strategy.
There is an element of chance and risk in research, ”Nathalie Coutinet, researcher at the Sorbonne Paris Nord University, told AFP.
Why did they abandon their projects?
In its press release published Monday, the Institut Pasteur justified its decision to terminate its project, explaining that "the immune responses induced were found to be lower than those observed in people cured of a natural infection as well as those observed with authorized vaccines ”against the coronavirus.
Same story at Sanofi.
The pharmaceutical giant has indicated that the immune response of adults aged 18 to 49 with its vaccine is "comparable to that of patients who have recovered from Covid-19 infection", but this response is "insufficient" in older adults. aged, the laboratory said in a statement released in mid-December.
"It is not a question of efficacy trials, but of immunogenicity, ie the immunizing power of the vaccine", explains Cécil Czerkinsky, Inserm research director and vaccinologist.
Why did the two laboratories not opt for messenger RNA?
The two technologies chosen by the Pasteur Institute and the Sanofi laboratory are different from messenger RNA, the solution used by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, already approved in Europe.
“Moderna and BioNtech made that choice (messenger RNA) as well because it was the only technology they had.
We had several options.
We chose an option that we mastered, ”explained Olivier Bogillot, France boss of Sanofi, this Wednesday on RTL.
"If everyone had opted for messenger RNA and that hadn't worked, it would have been said that it was stupid", continued Nathalie Coutinet.
“These laboratories had to go fast and used their know-how.
These are technologies that they master to manufacture their vaccines.
Sanofi and GSK are rather behind on this messenger RNA technology compared to its competitors ”, adds Cécil Czerkinsky.
But Sanofi has not completely put this technology aside.
The French laboratory is developing a vaccine that uses messenger RNA, with the American biotech Translate Bio, whose work has not yet been completed, unlike that of its competitors.
Does French research lack resources?
Traditionally, developing a new vaccine takes time and money.
According to specialists, it takes about a billion euros and ten years on average.
In the case of the coronavirus, exceptional financing and public-private partnerships have emerged.
“Until recently, we lacked the means.
Funds have been released for research on the virus, but it remains ad hoc ", deplores Cécil Czerkinsky, who believes that more partnerships are needed to accelerate research:" The Pasteur Institute only does research, not development.
Sanofi has partnerships, but not necessarily with French companies.
Two of the first vaccines, which have efficacy rates of over 90%, came from BioNTech and Moderna, small companies specializing in the development of innovative treatments which have joined forces with large groups.
Another problem for the vaccinologist, French vaccine research is underdeveloped: “In France, we have the Institut Pasteur, the Institut pasteur de Lille and Sanofi, that's all.
It is rather desert for the country of Pasteur.
"" We have the arms, we have the will, we have the know-how.
We should capitalize on this, simplify everything that is stamp and signature.
We really have to be more responsive, we have to encourage partnerships.
It is not a failure, but it is a delay in French research ”, estimates Cécil Czerkinsky.
What projects are still under study?
Despite the disappointing results of clinical trials for its vaccine, Sanofi is continuing its work.
Initially announced for the summer of 2021, the vaccine should "arrive by the end of the year," said Olivier Bogillot.
If Sanofi has not yet found a vaccine, it has chosen to produce that of one of its competitors, Pfizer-BioNTech, to increase the production chain of already existing vaccines.
From the summer of 2021, the French laboratory "will take charge of the final stages of manufacture to provide more than 125 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine for the European Union", announced the group.
For its part, the Institut Pasteur is continuing its work on two other vaccine projects against Covid, at a preliminary stage, however.
“The first, which can be administered by the nasal route, has been developed with the biotechnology company TheraVectys, a member of the Institut Pasteur and specializing in the development of vaccines.
The second is a DNA vaccine candidate, ”he said in a statement.
These two projects "are now in the preclinical phase", that is to say that no trial has yet been carried out on humans.
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