LONDON – Drugmakers Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline said Friday that their potential COVID-19 vaccine won’t be ready until late next year because they need to improve the shot’s effectiveness in older people.
“The results of the study are not as we hoped,’’ Roger Connor, president of London-based GSK Vaccines, said in a statement.
GSK and Sanofi plan to produce up to 1 billion doses of their COVID-19 vaccine annually, and they have signed agreements to supply millions of doses to the U.S., European Union, Canada and developing countries.
The difficulties underscore the challenges scientists face as they race to develop COVID-19 vaccines, condensing a process that usually takes years into a matter of months.
“We have identified the path forward and remain confident and committed to bringing a safe and efficacious COVID-19 vaccine,” said Thomas Triomphe, head of Sanofi’s vaccine unit.