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GSK moves into the vaccine race

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GlaxoSmithKline says it can backtrack on the Covid-19 vaccine and play an important role in preparing new pandemics after testing positive data.

The vaccine maker is talking to internal governments in the UK about creating vaccine manufacturing facilities in their homes, and is investing heavily in mRNA, behind the successful plans of BioNTech / Pfizer and Moderna.

GSK has not helped last year to any generation of Covid-19 vaccines his French partner Sanofi it had to be repeated due to a dosing error. The company decided to provide an assistant that promotes the effectiveness of many vaccines to several partners, rather than developing its own shot.

GSK and Sanofi released data from the second phase 2 trial on Monday, showing participants of all ages showed a strong immune response, with people recovering Covid-19 achieving good antibody levels after a single dose. The companies said they wanted to get approval for the regulations by the end of the year “in the coming weeks” with phase 3 testing.

The results come after positive preclinical data from GSK’s second-generation vaccine German biotechnology CureVac he was released last week, and Medicago, his Canadian partner, is going on a phase 3 test.

Roger Connor, president of GSK Vaccines, said Financial Times the company “licked the wounds” after a “disappointing” setback.

Now, he said it could play a big role in the next stage of the pandemic and as Covid-19 becomes an endemic disease. He said the vaccine with Sanofi is very promising, and that CureVac’s mRNA vaccine can target several variants at once.

“People will see that we are not strikers, however, we are still in this race,” he added.

The results of the study were also a boost for Sanofi, which was the second largest vaccine maker to make sales before the pandemic after GSK, but fell behind last year in the Covid-19 vaccine development race. Another jab based on MRNA technology is also being developed.

The failure of Sanofik to market the Covid-19 vaccine has been the subject of much debate in France, as critics see it as a symbol of the country’s scientific decline. The French vaccination campaign started slowly, but has since accelerated in terms of the doses given by the population to be placed in the middle of the EU package, but behind Germany, Italy and Spain, according to us The world in data.

It’s GSK under pressure to show investors that it is strengthening its pipeline, before dismantling the consumer division next year. Elliott Management hedge fund has taken a million-pound stake and is pushing for change. The company plans to unveil the rest of the business by combining the rest of the business with drugs and vaccines, such as what an investor day will be like in June.

Connor said GSK’s vaccines business is a “crown jewel” that is undervalued, adding 50 percent to revenue and doubling profits over the past four years.

Growth has been driven by adult-targeted products launched by Shingrix and has indicated the first potential vaccine for RSV, a common respiratory disease, as a potential success in the pipeline.

While some analysts distribute vaccines from the pharmaceutical business, Connor has argued that he works closely with Hal Barron, GSK’s head of research and development, and that the business has synergies because of the science that is emerging in the immune system.

The pandemic has chained new smaller players like Moderna, BioNTech and Novavax to some of the best vaccine manufacturers. While supply is declining this year, companies with approved vaccines are expanding production dramatically by 2022 and beyond, and some analysts believe it will create a crowded market.

But Connor said GSK still has “the strongest technology portfolio in the industry,” which attracts the interest of governments looking to prepare for future pandemics by investing in R&D and production capacity. He said that although mRNA is an “exciting platform,” it is likely to have many diseases that do not function, and so it is essential to have other options.

“We are at a strategic turning point like the vaccine industry,” he said. “There is a growing awareness about the vaccine, which can increase market opportunities. [and] technologies are accelerating at a pace we never thought could happen. “

Additional report by Leila Abboud

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