The Franco-Austrian biotech Valneva announced Thursday that it had initiated the production of its candidate vaccine against Covid-19.

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JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP

The Franco-Austrian biotech Valneva announced Thursday that it had initiated the production of its candidate vaccine against Covid-19, still in the clinical trial phase, in order to optimize its schedule of potential deliveries.

The laboratory has already signed a partnership with the British government in September to provide it with a maximum of 190 million doses of its vaccine.

In January, the European Commission, for its part, said it had concluded exploratory talks with Valneva, from which it plans to purchase up to 60 million doses.

The vaccine from this biotech was developed using an already proven technology, based on inactivated virus - as opposed to messenger RNA, the solution used by Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna.

Some 150 adults are currently participating in a phase 1/2 clinical trial and the first results of the study are expected in April 2021.

Do not know the delays in deliveries from competitors

By initiating the production of its potential future vaccine, Valneva intends to "optimize the schedule" of its potential deliveries, she explains in a press release, at a time when delays from several of its competitors have outraged within the European Union .

On Wednesday, Brussels asked AstraZeneca, which is awaiting the European regulatory green light for its serum for Friday, to deliver it as agreed with Covid-19 vaccines produced in two factories located in the United Kingdom, after the laboratory explained that it would not be able to deliver the expected number of doses to the EU in the first quarter.

The European Union has secured 600 million doses of vaccine against Covid-19: the European Commission has negotiated six contracts with pharmaceutical laboratories, and it is in discussions with two others (Novavax and Valneva).

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