biology

Sanofi–GSK COVID-19 vaccine

Sanofi–GSK COVID-19 vaccine is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Sanofi–GSK COVID-19 vaccine rather than just read about it. In short: The Sanofi–GSK COVID-19 vaccine, sold under the brand name VidPrevtyn Beta, is a COVID-19 vaccine developed by Sanofi Pasteur and GSK. The Sanofi–GSK COVID‑19 vaccine was authorized for medical use in the European Union in November 2022.

Key takeaways

Sanofi–GSK COVID-19 vaccine belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Sanofi–GSK COVID-19 vaccine to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Sanofi–GSK COVID-19 vaccine from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Sanofi–GSK COVID-19 vaccine, sold under the brand name VidPrevtyn Beta, is a COVID-19 vaccine developed by Sanofi Pasteur and GSK. The Sanofi–GSK COVID‑19 vaccine was authorized for medical use in the European Union in November 2022.

Medical uses The Sanofi–GSK COVID‑19 vaccine is used as a booster for active immunisation against SARS‑CoV‑2 virus in order to prevent COVID‑19.

Pharmacology The Sanofi–GSK COVID‑19 vaccine is a recombinant protein subunit vaccine containing the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, which is produced in insect cells via a baculovirus vector. It also includes an adjuvant made by GSK. It uses the same technology as Sanofi's Flublok influenza vaccine.

History The Sanofi–GSK COVID‑19 vaccine is under development by the French pharmaceutical company Sanofi and the British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline. Advanced clinical trials of the vaccine were delayed in December 2020 after it failed to produce a strong immune response in people over the age of 50, most likely due to an insufficient antigen concentration in the vaccine, delaying the launch of the vaccine to late 2021.

Clinical trials In September 2020, Sanofi-GSK started for phase I trials with 440 participants in the United States. In February 2021, Sanofi-GSK started for phase II trials with 722 participants in the United States. On 27 May 2021, the vaccine began a Phase III trial involving 35,000 participants, which increased to 37,430 participants with trials in Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ghana, Honduras, India, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Uganda, and the United States. In September 2021, Sanofi-GSK started a booster trial in the United Kingdom. In this study, they will enroll up to 3,145 volunteers who have previously completed a COVID-19 a full vaccine course between 4 and 10 months previously. The purpose of this study is to determine if the investigational COVID-19 vaccines are safe and can stimulate and broaden the immune response against the different COVID-19 variants that cause COVID-19 when given as a single booster injection in participants who have previously been vaccinated with a full course of an authorized COVID-19 vaccine.

Non-clinical studies During its development, the vaccine was tested in several non-clinical models including mice, hamsters, rabbits and non-human primates.

Co-exclusive licensing agreement with Novavax On May 10, 2024, a Sanofi press release announced a co-exclusive licensing agreement between Sanofi and Novavax "to co-commercialize COVID-19 vaccine and develop novel flu-COVID-19 combination vaccines." The 2026 Nuvaxovid website, including vaccine locator page, is copyright Sanofi and does not feature the Novavax company name.

Society and culture

Legal status In July 2021, the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) started a rolling review of Vidprevtyn, a COVID-19 vaccine developed by Sanofi Pasteur. The CHMP's decision to start the rolling review is based on preliminary results from laboratory studies (non-clinical data) and early clinical studies in adults, which suggest that the vaccine triggers the production of antibodies that target SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and may help protect against the disease. Vidprevtyn Beta was authorized for medical use in the European Union in November 2022.

Economics In July 2020, the UK government signed up for 60 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine developed by GSK and Sanofi. It uses a recombinant protein-based technology from Sanofi and GSK's pandemic technology. The companies claimed to be able to produce one billion doses, subject to successful trials and regulatory approval, during the first half of 2021. The company also agreed to a $2.1 billion deal with the United States to produce 100 million doses of the vaccine.

Marketing In March 2024, at the request of Sanofi Pasteur, the European Commission withdrew the marketing authorization for VidPrevtyn. Sanofi Pasteur said the decision for the discontinuation was due to commercial reasons.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Sanofi–GSK COVID-19 vaccine

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Sanofi–GSK COVID-19 vaccine claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Sanofi–GSK COVID-19 vaccine before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Sanofi–GSK COVID-19 vaccine ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Sanofi–GSK COVID-19 vaccine

In research: Sanofi–GSK COVID-19 vaccine appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Sanofi–GSK COVID-19 vaccine in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Sanofi–GSK COVID-19 vaccine is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics American COVID-19 vaccines, British COVID-19 vaccines, Drugs developed by GSK plc, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Sanofi–GSK COVID-19 vaccine outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Sanofi–GSK COVID-19 vaccine in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Sanofi–GSK COVID-19 vaccine means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Sanofi–GSK COVID-19 vaccine out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Sanofi–GSK COVID-19 vaccine in simple terms?

Why does Sanofi–GSK COVID-19 vaccine matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Sanofi–GSK COVID-19 vaccine?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Sanofi–GSK COVID-19 vaccine.