“The price is not totally set … We are assessing production costs for the coming months … We will be below 10 euros,” Bogillot told France Inter radio.

Drugmakers and government agencies worldwide are racing to combat the pandemic and develop vaccines and treatments for COVID-19.

Asked about rival AstraZeneca, which is expected to price its shot at about 2.50 euros in Europe, Bogillot said:

“The price gap for us can be that we use all our internal resources, our own researchers, our own research centers. AstraZeneca outsources part of its production,” Reuters reported.

Earlier this week Sanofi and Britain’s GlaxoSmithKline said they had started a clinical trial of their protein-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate, and aimed to reach the final testing stage by December.

If the results are conclusive, Sanofi and GSK hope to get the vaccine approved in the first half of next year.

The Paris-based drugmaker launched human studies at 11 sites across the United States. The phase 1/2 trial – which compresses the early and middle stages of clinical tests – will assess 440 healthy patients in two age groups: 18 to 49, and over 50.

Sanofi, which is developing the vaccine in partnership with GlaxoSmithKline, aims to have results by December, at which point it hopes to accelerate into late-stage studies.

Though Sanofi and Glaxo are just now starting their latest trial, the vaccine front-runners may deliver interim data from their late-stage studies as early as this month.

There are more than 175 COVID-19 vaccines currently in development, according to the World Health Organization, and 33 in human trials. A handful have ambitions to secure emergency use authorizations in the fall.

“I’m not concerned that we’re a few months behind some of the other vaccine candidates,” Dr. John Shiver, Sanofi’s senior vice-president of global vaccine research and development, said in an interview. The firm’s expertise in conducting trials and “experience with very similar viruses” will allow it to gain back time on its peers, he said, and ultimately, multiple shots will be needed, Bloomberg reported.

The vaccine candidate relies on technology Sanofi uses to make influenza shots and Glaxo’s adjuvants, which enhance the body’s immune response. Sanofi also has a messenger RNA vaccine in development. Dr. Shiver said both candidates reported compelling data in pre-clinical studies.

“They showed very, very high levels of neutralizing antibodies in monkeys that are comparable to levels in humans who recovered from the COVID-19 infection,” Dr. Shiver said of the pre-clinical studies, which are to be published in medical journals later this year. That data gave Sanofi confidence as it moves to the next stage, he said.

As Sanofi turns its attention to phase 1/2 trial enrolment, it is focused on recruiting a diverse cohort that reflects different geographies, races, ethnicities, genders and ages.

“Older people, unfortunately, people like me over the age of 50, tend not to respond as well to vaccines,” Dr. Shiver said. Sanofi is targeting the enrolment of 140 people aged above 50 to identify a vaccine formulation that is best suited for them, he said. The Sanofi-Glaxo vaccine will likely require a two-dose regimen.

COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials have thus far relied on test pools with largely White participants, though Dr. Shiver said Sanofi will be focused on recruiting “tremendous diversity” in the 30,000-person phase 3 trial it aims to start in December. It will take place in multiple countries, and particularly where COVID cases continue to rise. Sanofi is currently consulting with epidemiologists on how to best design the trial.

The Trump administration’s “Operation Warp Speed” effort is providing as much as US$2.1 billion (S$2.9 billion) to Sanofi and Glaxo to fast-track its shot and secure 100 million doses should it prove successful.

The United States has an option to receive an additional 500 million doses longer term. The European Commission and the United Kingdom have reached supply deals as well.

If successful with a regulatory approval in the first half of 2021, the companies plan to make one billion doses next year.

“That’s all feasible if the pandemic continues in the way that it’s been proceeding so far this year,” Dr. Shiver said. “I expect cases are going to accumulate later this year when our phase 3 trial starts.”

Sanofi said Kevzara – which it produces with partner Regeneron – had failed as a COVID-19 treatment after the latest set of trials in patients across the world showed adverse effects, and would be dropped for studies in this field.

Sanofi said the trials had led in some cases to COVID-19 pneumonia infections and even death in a few cases, Reuters reported.

The two companies do not anticipate conducting further clinical studies of it, Sanofi added.

Trials had shown that the drug did not help patients with less severe COVID-19, the companies had said in July.

“Although this trial did not yield the results we hoped for, we are proud of the work that was achieved by the team to further our understanding of the potential use of Kevzara for the treatment of COVID-19,” said Sanofi’s global head of research and development, John Reed.

“At Sanofi, we are committed to help combat the global COVID-19 pandemic, including developing vaccine candidates that can be manufactured at large scale,” he added.

Pharmaceutical companies have been racing to develop treatments against the COVID-19 pandemic that has claimed more than 849,000 lives and crippled economies.

Last month, CEO Paul Hudson said Sanofi’s confidence in its coronavirus vaccine candidates had increased over the summer as the drugmaker prepared to start clinical trials.

In July, Roche said its attempt to retool its rheumatoid arthritis drug Actemra/RoActemra to treat patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19-related pneumonia has failed in a late-stage trial.