The Government has signed a deal with pharmaceutical giants GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Sanofi Pasteur for 60 million doses of a potential coronavoris vaccine.
If it proves successful, the UK could begin to vaccinate priority groups including frontline health and social care workers and those at increased risk from Covid-19, as early as the first half of next year, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said.
Human clinical studies of the vaccine will begin in September followed by a phase 3 study in December.
GSK and Sanofi Pasteur teamed up in April and said their vaccine could be approved by regulators by early 2021.
No vaccine has yet been approved to treat the disease, which is thought to have killed 45,878 people in the UK and 659,000 across the globe. But as researchers frantically try to develop a cure, the British Government has now signed deals for four different types of potential coronavirus vaccines and a total of 250 million doses.
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Business Secretary Alok Sharma said: ‘Our scientists and researchers are racing to find a safe and effective vaccine at a speed and scale never seen before. While this progress is truly remarkable, the fact remains that there are no guarantees.
‘In the meantime, it is important that we secure early access to a diverse range of promising vaccine candidates, like GSK and Sanofi, to increase our chances of finding one that works so we can protect the public and save lives.’
Last week the UK signed deals for 30 million doses of a vaccine being developed by BioNTech/Pfizer and another 60 million being made by Valneva.
This followed an agreement with AstraZeneca to produce 100 million doses in partnership with the University of Oxford.
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