Benzinga | Jan 27, 2021 05:02AM EST

Sanofi To Manufacture 125 Million COVID-19 Vaccine Doses For Rival Pfizer-BioNTech

* French drug maker Sanofi SA (NASDAQ:SNY) will manufacture 125 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine co-developed by Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) and BioNTech SE (NASDAQ:BNTX) in its Frankfurt plant starting this summer.

* As Sanofi's COVID-19 vaccine faces delays, the French government has been pressing the company to use its facilities to manufacture vaccines from rival drug makers due to high demand.

* The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

* "We are very conscious that the earlier vaccine doses are available, the more lives can potentially be saved," Sanofi CEO Paul Hudson said.

* The phase 2 trials of Sanofi's COVID-19 vaccine developed in partnership with British drug maker GlaxoSmithKline plc (NYSE:GSK) will begin next month.

* In December, Sanofi and Glaxo said that their COVID-19 vaccine would not be available until late 2021 after trials showed that the vaccine produced an "insufficient" immune response in people over 60.

* SNY shares are up 0.77% at $49.53 in the pre-market session.