ONE of the region’s biggest employers is in advanced discussions with the European Commission for the supply of up to 300 million doses of a Covid-19 vaccine.
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) – which has a site in Barnard Castle – produced the vaccine candidate in partnership with Sanofi.
The collaboration used recombinant protein-based and adjuvant technology.
Doses would be manufactured in European countries including France, Belgium, Germany and Italy.
Roger Connor, president of GSK vaccines said: “GSK is proud to be working in partnership with Sanofi to make this vaccine available as soon as possible in Europe.
“Both companies have significant research and development and manufacturing capability in Europe and are already working hard to scale up production across our networks. This announcement from the European Commission supports our ongoing efforts.”
Sanofi and GSK recently signed agreements with the United States where they have a longstanding partnership with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, and also with the UK Government.
The partners plan to provide a significant portion of total worldwide available supply capacity in 2021/22 to the global initiative “Access to Covid‐19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator,” which is working to accelerate the development, production, and equitable access to coronavirus tests, new treatments, and vaccines.
