Last checked at 
(Adds background, orders of protein-based shots)
PARIS, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Sanofi is dropping
plans for its own mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine because of the
dominant role of the BioNTech-Pfizer alliance
as well as Moderna in the fight against the pandemic,
the company said on Tuesday.
The move highlights the challenges of competing in
particular with pioneer BioNTech, which rose from
obscurity through its alliance with pharma major Pfizer last
year. The pair have delivered close to 1.5 billion doses so far,
making them the western world's largest COVID-19 vaccine maker.
French healthcare group Sanofi will instead focus on efforts
with British partner GlaxoSmithKline to bring another COVID-19
vaccine candidate to market based on the more conventional
protein-based approach, where mass trials are
ongoing.
The decision to drop clinical development of the mRNA shot,
acquired as part of its takeover of Translate Bio, came
despite positive Phase I/II study interim results https://www.sanofi.com/en/media-room/press-releases/2021/2021-09-28-08-00-00-2304069
announced on Tuesday where participants' blood readings showed
a strong immune reaction.
But Sanofi said the read-out encouraged it only to pursue
the technology as a potential vaccine against influenza and
other diseases, giving up on the area of COVID-19 because of the
strong market presence of the two approved mRNA shots.
"These results will clearly help inform the path forward for
our mRNA development programs," said Jean-Francois Toussaint,
global head of research and development at Sanofi Pasteur.
The company said it started testing an mRNA shot against
seasonal influenza in humans in June and will launch follow-on
clinical studies next year.
German biotech firm CureVac earlier this month also
acknowledged rivals' dominance when it cancelled some of the
contract manufacturing deals for its experimental mRNA COVID-19
vaccine with two prospective partners.
CureVac's product is under review by the European Union's
drugs regulator with an uncertain outcome after disappointing
trial results.
The mRNA vaccines trick the human body into producing
proteins known as antigens that are found on the surface of the
coronavirus that causes COVID-19. That primes the immune system
to quell future infections.
Under the more traditional protein-based vaccine approach
that Sanofi will now focus on, the antigen is bioengineered in
labs and combined with an efficacy booster known as adjuvant,
provided by GSK.
Sanofi executive Thomas Triomphe told journalists in a
briefing that the EU and Britain had ordered 75 million doses of
this vaccine, banking on future regulatory approval.
(Reporting by Ludwig Burger, Sarah White and Sudip Kar-Gupta,
editing by Louise Heavens and David Evans)
