Following the news, both Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline stocks jumped. The latest closing price for Sanofi was $51.62. GlaxoSmithKline shares ended at $41.22 at the latest session.
The coronavirus vaccine race is in the full swing, and countries have already started to preorder drugs that have not been approved yet and are in the phase of being tested. The UK is nearing the vaccine supply deal as well. Earlier, The British government secured an agreement to buy 100 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Plc (NYSE: AZN) drug. Now, it is in talks with Sanofi SA (NASDAQ: SNYNF) and GlaxoSmithKline Plc (NYSE: GSK) to buy 60 million doses of their COVID-19 vaccine.
A spokeswoman for Britain’s business ministry commented:
“The Government’s Vaccines Task Force is actively engaging with a wide range of companies both in the UK and abroad to negotiate access to vaccines.”
The sum of the deal would total 500 million pounds ($624 million).
Sanofi is working through two vaccine candidates. One of them uses an adjuvant made by GlaxoSmithKline. This candidate is backed by the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA). In September, Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline are planning to start Phase 1 clinical trials of their COVID-19 vaccine. If successful, the drug will be available in the second half of 2021.
By the way, the drug has drawn the attention of not only the UK but also of the EU that is seeking a deal with Sanofi as well. The Union has already invited Britain to join its efforts to purchase vaccines for the bloc.
Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline Stocks Up
Following the news, both Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline stocks jumped. The latest closing price for Sanofi was $51.62. At the moment of writing, before hours it is 0.19% up.
GlaxoSmithKline shares are up in the early trade today as well. On July 2, they ended at $41.22. Now, in the pre-market, GlaxoSmith stock is trading at $41.27, or 0.12% higher.
Coronavirus Latest Statistics
The peak of the pandemic seemed to be over, but it was too early to celebrate the victory over the virus. New cases continue to appear, the current number of confirmed cases has totaled 11.5 million worldwide. The allocation across countries has changed. Brazil and India are now taking the second and third places in the list of countries with the highest level of morbidity. The USA is still the leader with the number of coronavirus-infected approaching 3 million people, which is about a quarter of the global total.
Meanwhile, the U.S. President Donald Trump said the U.S. is nearing the end of coronavirus pandemic. Commenting on the figures, he explained the infection rate by increased testing, saying that “testing is overrated” because “in many ways, it makes us look bad.”
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