The following is a response provided by Sanofi.
“At Sanofi, we have a simple purpose – to discover breakthrough medicines and vaccines to improve the lives of millions of people around the world. This drive to transform the practice of medicine has taken on increased urgency for everyone in the Sanofi family since the emergence of COVID-19 across the world.
Sanofi is rapidly responding to the evolving challenge of COVID-19. Our responsibility to our employees and their families, patients and caregivers, health care providers, public health officials and communities around the world drives us to act on our long history of innovation to bring cutting edge science and dedicated people to face this threat. We would like to take this opportunity to share our approach to this crisis.
We Are Leveraging Our Expertise in Vaccine Development
Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines global business unit of Sanofi, is leveraging previous development work for a SARS vaccine as part of our goal to unlock a fast path forward for developing a COVID-19 vaccine. Sanofi is collaborating with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, expanding the company’s longstanding partnership with BARDA. That partnership includes an agreement signed last year to establish state of the art facilities in the United States for the sustainable production of an adjuvanted recombinant vaccine, the technology platform that will be used for the COVID-19 program. Additionally, we are researching whether some on-market products may be a potential treatment option. We are also sharing our expertise in an advisory capacity to various global governments and health agencies, including the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
We Are Working to Avoid Shortages
We are working to maintain the supply of all of our medicines and vaccines through close collaboration with our suppliers throughout the world. Our global network of manufacturing plants is operational and the diversity of our global sourcing helps ensure business continuity across all our product lines. At this time, Sanofi does not anticipate shortages for patients resulting from the COVID-19 situation.
We Are Ensuring the Safety of Our Employees
Our priority has been the safety and the health of our employees and their families around the world by implementing science-based recommendations to stop the spread of Covid-19. Sanofi activated our global crisis committee to help prevent employee exposure to the virus while actively monitoring the potential impact on our activities. Local crisis teams are also working in different countries to manage local realities in closer proximity to employees.
Sanofi is continually assessing the global health implications of the COVID-19 virus – and our role in addressing this challenge – and we remain committed to working closely with global health organizations and governments to minimize the risk and impact of COVID-19.”
