The multinational Johnson & Johnson is expected to publish the results of clinical trials of its Covid-19 vaccine next week, the chief financial officer of the American pharmaceutical company assured on Tuesday.
It is expected that the company will apply at the same time for rapid licensing, in order for the vaccine, which is made in one installment, to be placed on the market. Therefore, this vaccine will probably be made shortly after the third that gets the green light in the USA.
“We plan to submit (results) before the beginning of next week,” Joseph Walk said in an interview with CNBC. The third phase of clinical trials of the vaccine, involving 45,000 people in 80 countries, may have included cases of new strains of coronavirus found in South Africa and Brazil, Walk said.
“In terms of supply, we are very confident that we will meet all our commitments,” he added. These commitments include 100 million installments to be shipped to the US before the end of June, about 200 million installments to the European Union before the end of the year, with the first deliveries in April and about 200 million installments in developing countries, with the first deliveries to begin after June.
About 56 countries have already started vaccinating their citizens and it is estimated that the doses given have reached 64 million. Israel ranks first in terms of population-based vaccinations. It has vaccinated 29% of its population with at least the first dose.
Sanofi agreement with BioNTech
French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi said on Wednesday it had reached an agreement with Germany's BioNTech to supply the European Union with the company's vaccine, which was developed in collaboration with the US group Pfizer.
In a press release, Sanofi, which announced last month that it needed to delay the release of its own vaccine being developed jointly with Britain's GlaxoSmithKline, confirmed CEO Paul Hudson's comments to Le Figaro on Wednesday.
“Sanofi will provide BioNTech with access to its established infrastructure and know-how for the production of over 125 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine in Europe,” Sanofi said in a statement. “The initial supplies will come from Sanofi's production facility in Frankfurt from the summer of 2021.”
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