From Wednesday, at least four sites will gradually embark on the production of vaccines against Covid-19.
- The Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and Curevac vaccines should be produced in France by this summer.
- The goal is to produce 250 million doses by the end of the year.
- By the end of the year, Europe will be able to produce 3 billion doses per year through 53 sites.
This week marks the launch of vaccine production on French territory with the aim of making Europe “the world’s leading vaccine-producing continent by the end of the year”. This declaration by Thierry Breton, the European Commissioner in charge of the Vaccines task force, at the Parisian follows that of Emmanuel Macron, last February, in which he announced that four sites will start producing the vaccine. The first to launch is the one managed by the manufacturer and drug developer Delpharm in Saint-Rémy-sur-Avre, in Eure-et-Loire, this Wednesday, April 7.
Objective: 3 billion doses produced in Europe per year
The factory installed in Eure-et-Loir will tackle the manufacture of the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech with which it has signed a long-standing contract. After five months of preparation, the factory is ready to start production. It will quickly be followed by the Reciphram group and its factory in Indre-et-Loire. From mid-April, she will start producing the serum developed by Moderna. Sanofi will then follow, which will set about producing the Johnson & Johnson vaccine on its Marcy-l’Etoile lines in the Rhône. This summer, Fareva will bottle the doses of Curevac at its Idron sites, near Pau, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, and Val-de-Reuil, in the Eure, as soon as this new German vaccine has obtained its European approval.
This French production aims to supply European countries. The goal is to produce 250 million doses by the end of the year. Thierry Breton estimates that by the end of the year, Europe will be able to produce “3 billion doses per year, compared to 2 billion for the United States.” A total of 53 sites are involved in the vaccine production chain on the continent.
12 million doses expected this month
Before these sites made it possible to supply French vaccination centers in large quantities, it was with doses produced elsewhere in Europe that the vaccination campaign continued and accelerated. In all, more than 12 million doses are expected this month. This rate could make it possible to achieve the government’s objective of having vaccinated 10 million French people by mid-April before the over 60s join the vaccination campaign.
Regarding the manufacture of a vaccine made in France, not for now. The Sanofi group is working on a second vaccine based on messenger RNA technology with the American biotech company Translate Bio, which they have named MRT5500. Phase 2 trials were launched on March 12, the group announced in a statement. The two companies expect to obtain the interim results of this trial, conducted on 415 patients, in the third quarter of 2021. Phase 3 of the trials, which will involve several thousand volunteers, should be launched in stride.
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