The United States government has signed a deal with the vaccine partners Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline Plc. to secure 100 million doses of the shot, if successful. The deal, reportedly, is worth $2.1 billion, signed for the COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by these pharma giants, if it turns out to be successful.
As a part of Operation Warp Speed, an effort by the US government to fight the novel Coronavirus in the country, the funding is aimed at pushing clinical testing and manufacturing of the vaccine. In addition to this, the United States will be receiving 100 million shots of the vaccine and would also have the option to secure 500 million more doses, in the long term.
Senior executives from Sanofi quoted that the deal would include 100 million doses given to the United States and would also provide an option to give 500 million in the further future, the price of which has not been decided by the government yet.
At the same time, moneycontrol.com reported GSK quoting in a statement that more than half of the funding received from the US administration, would be devoted to further development of the vaccine. The remaining amount will be invested towards pushing manufacturing and delivery of doses, once the vaccine successfully clears all stages of trials.
As estimated by various media agencies, this deal was announced by the US Department of Health and Human Services and US Department of Defence. If calculated with regards to population numbers, the drug comes down to $42 per person vaccinated.
It has also been reported that the deal is almost identical to the one signed with Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE, worth $2 billion for 50 million shots of their potential vaccine. This deal brings the drug down to somewhere about $40 per person inoculated.
The vaccine being developed in a joint effort by both these companies is current awaiting the final stage of clinical trials which are set to commence from the month of September.
