The production of vaccines in France against COVID-19 is to start Wednesday, at the French subcontractor Delpharm, we learned Monday from the French Ministry of the Economy and Finance, confirming press information.
• Read also: London unveils new rules for international travel
• Read also: Greece reopens stores despite bad numbers
• Read also: Portugal reopens museums, café terraces and colleges
“Production is due to start this week, in this case on Wednesday at Delpharm, in its plant in Saint-Rémy-sur-Avre (north-west of France), for [le compte du laboratoire allemand] BioNTech ”, partner of the American Pfizer, the ministry told AFP.
“They will start with the production of test batches at first, to ensure that everything complies with the expected quality standards and will then switch as quickly as possible to the production of commercial batches”, we said. specified from the same source.
The ministry recalled that the subcontractor Delpharm was one of the companies supported in recent months by the French State, via the call for expressions of interest announced in mid-June 2020, and thanks to this support it will be able to put in bottles for the Pfizer / BioNTech alliance.
Regarding production capacity, “companies do not wish at this stage to communicate on the expected volume”, according to the ministry.
Because in addition to Delpharm, the Swede Recipharm will produce vaccines for the American company Moderna, “by mid-April”, in its French factory in Monts (west).
The manufacturer Fareva should launch the production of CureVac, which is still subject to the condition of marketing authorization, “at the end of May, at the beginning of June”.
Finally, the French Sanofi will produce for Janssen (subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson), in Marcy-l’Etoile (south-east).
“When we put all this end to end, we are on at least 250 million doses that will leave French sites by the end of the year, cumulatively,” said the ministry.
A figure that does not include the vaccine developed by Sanofi, expected for the second half of the year, if clinical trials are conclusive.
Since the start of the vaccination campaign in France, more than 9.3 million people have received at least one injection, and 3.1 million two injections.
The epidemic continues to progress in the country with nearly 30,000 hospitalized patients, including more than 5,400 in intensive care, according to the latest data released Monday by the health authorities.