French Pharma Bets on Old School Approach for Covid Vaccine
- Valneva signed U.K. deal to supply up to 190 million doses
- Vaccine has more than 50% chance of success, CEO says
Photographer: Akos Stiller/Valneva SE
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A French pharmaceutical company betting on a more traditional approach to producing a Covid-19 shot believes it has more than a 50% chance of success, according to its chief executive officer, with a billion-pound U.K. deal on the line.
Valneva SE, a vaccine specialist created by a merger in 2013, is the only drugmaker in the U.S. and Europe developing an inactivated shot against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The approach uses a sample of the coronavirus that has been killed to stimulate an immune response without causing the disease. The approach has been used for decades with inoculations for polio and hepatitis A.