As the coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to spread in China, albeit at a slower rate than it was a couple weeks ago, the topic of developing a vaccine still grabs the attention of the financial press. Smaller, specialty vaccine developers have fallen a little out of the limelight recently as an increasing number of large pharmaceutical companies announce partnerships with governments to develop a treatment. On Tuesday, Sanofi (NYSE: SNY) confirmed that it would be working on a potential vaccine at the behest of a U.S. healthcare organization.
More specifically, the drugmaker will be partnering with the U.S. biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to develop a potential vaccine using the company’s DNA technology. Sanofi has previously worked to develop a vaccine for SARS, which is similar in nature to the coronavirus. BARDA is a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, an organization that has already partnered with other biotech companies to develop potential coronavirus vaccines as well. While Sanofi isn’t the first company to be working with BARDA, it was still a good piece of news nonetheless for the drugmaker.
“Addressing a global health threat such as this newest coronavirus is going to take a collaborative effort, which is why we are working with BARDA to quickly advance a potential vaccine candidate,” said David Loew, head of Sanofi’s global vaccine department in a press release on Tuesday. “While we are lending our expertise where possible, we believe the collaboration with BARDA may provide the most meaningful results in protecting the public from this latest outbreak.”
Shares of Sanofi are up 2.4% in response to the positive news while the stock remains up around 30% since 12 months ago. Other companies, such as Moderna, are also working on developing a potential treatment, albeit via a different approach thanks to the company’s unique mRNA vaccine technology. Across the Pacific Ocean, Johnson & Johnson has also partnered with the Chinese government in order to push its Ebola drug through human trials as a potential treatment to the virus. Initial results seem to be positive; the drug having been reported to reduce patient symptoms. Human trials in China were slated to begin sometime in early February with Johnson & Johnson’s Ebola drug.
The total confirmed coronavirus case count has risen to 75,200, with just over 74,000 of them being located in mainland China. The total death count has recently eclipsed 2,000, while the total number of patients that recovered from the virus is at 14,700. The number of U.S. coronavirus has grown to 29.
Sanofi Company Profile
Sanofi develops and markets drugs with a concentration in oncology, immunology, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and vaccines. However, the company’s decision in late 2019 to pull back from the cardio-metabolic area will likely reduce the firm’s footprint in this large therapeutic area. The company offers a diverse array of drugs with its highest revenue generator, Lantus, representing just under 10% of total sales. About 30% of total revenue comes from the United States and 25% from Europe. Emerging markets represent the majority of the remainder of sales. – Warrior Trading News
