Sanofi, GlaxoSmithKline Partner on Covid-19 Vaccine Supply Agreement in UK -- Update

--Sanofi and GSK partner to supply up to 60 million vaccine doses to U.K.

--Agreement is subject to final contract

--Sanofi's second-quarter results show decline in sales

By Cecilia Butini

Sanofi SA said Wednesday that it has reached an agreement together with GlaxoSmithKline PLC to supply the U.K. government with up to 60 million doses of a vaccine against Covid-19, as global companies continue efforts to develop a treatment to battle the virus that has infected millions.

The French pharmaceutical major, which also reported earnings Wednesday, said the vaccine candidate is based on its own protein-based technology, previously used to develop an influenza vaccine, and on GSK's pandemic adjuvant technology.

Financial details weren't disclosed and the deal is subject to a final contract.

Sanofi and GSK are among a handful of pharmaceutical companies currently developing a vaccine against the coronavirus, which has infected more than 16 million people world-wide. In the U.K., researchers from the University of Oxford are partnering with AstraZeneca PLC to research a vaccine. Pfizer Inc. and Germany's BioNTech SE are also partnering in the vaccine race and recently announced early results from corresponding trials in Germany and the U.S.

The coronavirus pandemic has been a determining factor in pharmaceutical companies' performance over the past months. Sanofi's second-quarter sales fell to 8.2 billion euros ($9.61 billion) from EUR8.63 billion a year earlier, mainly due to a decline in vaccine sales, which were affected by lockdowns triggered by the pandemic. The company had previously said it expected the favorable impact of the coronavirus pandemic on sales in the first quarter to be offset in the second.

Sanofi reported EUR7.6 billion net profit in the quarter due in part to an exceptional gain. That compares with a loss of EUR87 million in the same period the year prior, it said. The company raised its full-year guidance for business earnings per share, which are now expected to grow between 6% and 7% in 2020, up from a previous forecast for a 5% rise.

Regarding the potential Covid-19 vaccine, Sanofi added that it is in continuing discussions with the European Commission, the U.S. and global organizations to ensure access.

Write to Cecilia Butini at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 29, 2020 06:42 ET (10:42 GMT)

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