Covid-19 vaccine: Sanofi benefits the United States and creates controversy

Text by: RFI Follow

The pharmaceutical giant intends to distribute as a priority in the United States a possible vaccine against Covid-19. Unless the European Union is "as efficient" in financing its development. "Unacceptable", denounced the French government.

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“  The Americans are effective at this time. The EU needs to be as effective in helping us make this vaccine available very quickly,  ”said Sanofi France President Olivier Bogillot on the BFMTV channel.

The French pharmaceutical giant had warned the day before by the voice of its director-general Paul Hudson: it will distribute "  first  " in the United States a possible vaccine. The US government "  has the right to the largest pre-orders  " because it "  shares the risk  " of research and has "  invested to try to protect [its] population  ".

On February 18, Sanofi signed a partnership contract with the American Department of Health via one of its agencies, the Authority for Advanced Research and Development in the Biomedical Field (Barda). The priority given to the United States, said Paul Hudson, could be a few days or weeks.

"  Global public good  "

This Thursday, such a possibility was judged "  unacceptable  " by the Secretary of State for the Economy, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, who denounces any "  privileged access of such or such country under a financial pretext  ".

[#GrandMatinSudRadio] @AgnesRunacher "What #Sanofi said yesterday is abnormal! It would be unacceptable for there to be privileged access from such or such country under a pecuniary pretext! @SanofiFR made a corrective, the #vaccine accessible everywhere "

▶ ️https: //t.co/oD9NcRQqJh pic.twitter.com/0UteoPCVpT

"  If he did, it would be incomprehensible and unworthy [...]. This vaccine must be a global public good  , ”reacted Frédérique Vidal, Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation on France Info.

Asked repeatedly about a gap between the United States and the European Union in the distribution of a vaccine, the boss of Sanofi in France abstained from a clear denial. However, he assured that such treatment would ultimately be "  accessible to all  ". “  Production on American soil will be mainly dedicated to the United States and the rest of [its] production capacity will be allocated to Europe, France and the rest of the world . "

Vaccine usable within 18 to 24 months

"  The objective is that the vaccine is available both in the USA in France and in Europe in the same way  ", assured Olivier Bogillot. But, in reality, this will be possible "  if the Europeans work as quickly as the Americans ," he tempered. We are in talks with the European authorities [...] and certain EU states such as France and Germany to speed things up  ", in particular to facilitate regulatory procedures.

What about the research itself? The boss of Sanofi France has confirmed the objective of a vaccine that can be used within 18 to 24 months. According to him, such a calendar is extremely accelerated compared to normal, which revolves around ten years.

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