The U.S. government signed a contract July 31 with Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline to pay up to $2.1 billion for the development and supply of a COVID-19 vaccine.
The majority of the funding will go to Sanofi, which is developing the vaccine candidate based on recombinant protein-centric technology used in its influenza vaccine. Sanofi is partnering with GlaxoSmithKline to incorporate its adjuvant technology into the vaccine for improved efficacy.
More than half of the funding is apportioned for the vaccine's development, and the rest will go to manufacturing costs and an initial supply of 100 million doses. The U.S. has the option to obtain an additional 500 million doses later on.
Sanofi, which received about $30 million from HHS in February for the vaccine's development, plans to begin clinical trials in September and enter late-stage testing by the end of 2020. It hopes to seek regulatory approval during the first half of 2021.