The president of the French pharmaceutical company Sanofi, Serge Weinberg, confirmed on Thursday that the company will ensure that any vaccine against “Covid-19”, once approved, reaches all parts of the world at the same time. “No country will receive a deposit,” Weinberg told the French Channel 2.
Serge Weinberg said: “We are organized and have several manufacturing units, some in the United States, but many in Europe and France” .
These words of assurance come after previous statements by Paul Hudson CEO of the Sanofi Pharmaceuticals Group on the priority given to the distribution of a possible vaccine for “Covid-19” in the United States, which has caused great dissatisfaction in the world, and called on several officials and organizations to distribute “fair and global” in case a vaccine is reached.
Sanofi is a French group with 100,000 employees at 73 industrial sites in 32 countries, and the French laboratory represents one of the world’s largest groups specializing in vaccines. Work began in mid-February on a new vaccine against the Coronavirus with the announcement of the signing of a cooperation agreement with the Advanced Biomedical Research and Development Authority affiliated to the American Department of Health.
Thanks to this financial contribution, the United States will have “the right to obtain large pre-orders” and will also be able to benefit from the vaccine several days or weeks before the rest of the world, according to former Director-General Paul Hudson in an interview with Bloomberg.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday that the possible vaccine against the “Covid-19” epidemic should not be subject to “market laws”. The Elysee Palace also argues the group’s statements had “shocked everyone working (on the fight against the virus), including the president”, who will meet with Sanofi officials early next week.
For its part, the European Commission has confirmed that the vaccine against the emerging coronavirus must be “universal”. “The Covid-19 vaccine must be in the public interest and its access must be fair and complete,” said the UNHCR spokesperson.
The Commission has, in fact, organized a global donation to finance the search for a vaccine against the virus which has raised nearly 8 billion euros. The American government, on the other hand, did not participate in the donation and preferred to act alone.
The argument went out of the political space and the non-governmental organization “Oxfam” criticized the financial motives and the pursuit of profits by the giant companies in the pharmaceutical industry.
Faced with these reactions, the French government quickly adopted a firm position. Secretary of State to the Minister of Economy and Finance Agnès Pannier-Runacher immediately confirmed that she had contacted “Sanofi” and obtained confirmation that the vaccine would be available to everyone.
No conclusive vaccines in the very short term
Amid all this confusion, the European health agency announced on Thursday that any vaccine against “Covid-19” would not be ready before a year at best, based on the data currently available on current research.
“We see the possibility that a vaccine will be ready to be licensed in a year from today if all goes according to plan,” said Marco Cavalieri, head of biological health and immunization strategy agency.
Previous Sanofi cases
But this is not the first time that Sanofi has caused an outcry. Indeed, the group has already been singled out by the Philippines in the case of the death of several children because of its vaccine against dengue Dengvaxia which is a tropical viral infection. But Sanofi has rejected these accusations.
In addition, Sanofi is on the list of defendants in the complaint by the State of Minnesota against three laboratories, for having more than doubled the price of insulin in a short time.
And not far away, in February 2020, the group was indicted for “aggravated deception and” unintentional injuries “, in the case of the anti-epileptic drug Depakine. Sanofi says that all its production process is clear and transparent.
