OTTAWA – Canada has committed more than $1 billion to purchase doses of COVID-19 vaccines after reaching a fifth deal with Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline on Tuesday.
Minister of Supply Anita Anand said Tuesday that Canada has reached an agreement to purchase up to 72 million doses of its experimental vaccine candidate, which is just beginning the time for 3 testing stages this month.
In total, Canada has committed $1 billion to purchase at least 154 million doses of vaccines from five other companies, and the maximum of that money will be refunded even if the vaccines are never approved.
“We want to make a really important investment to make sure Canada is well placed to ensure the success of vaccines or vaccines,” he said in an interview with The Canadian Press.
“The way we do this is to bet on several horses at the same time to make sure that when one or more of those horses cross the finish line, we have those vaccines. “
Canada has signed agreements with Moderna, Pfizer, Novavax, Johnson
On September 3, Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline said their candidate vaccine would begin phase 1/2 trials that will test it in 440 people. The hope is that the vaccine will be in a position for the third and final phase of trials until the end of the year and approved for use in the first part of 2021.
Moderna has a vaccine in Phase 3 trials and Pfizer is in a combined Phase 2 and 3 trial. Novavax is in a Phase 2 trial, while Johnson and Johnson are in a phase 1/2 trial.
Most clinical trials have 3 stages for the protection and efficacy of the vaccine or developing drug.
Each point of the trials adds more volunteers testing the drug for adverse effects on physical fitness and whether the vaccine leads the user to expand antibodies that can protect against COVID-19.
Anand stated that Canada had also signed an agreement with Gilead Sciences and McKesson Canada to discharge 150,000 vials of remdesivir, the only antiviral drug that has been shown to be effective in treating patients with COVID-19. Health Canada approved the use of the drug in patients with COVID -19 in july expired.
Doses will start arriving at Canadian hospitals this month.
Canada has also joined the foreign immunization cooperative known as the COVAX Facility, which brings together low- and middle-income and combined countries to jointly invest in vaccine doses.
He has not yet announced the amount of his contribution, a figure that was due to arrive last week but which has been delayed. Now, Anand says Canada remains committed to COVAX and more important points will soon be held.
Canada has chosen to participate in any part of the COVAX program: the first is that any country joins vaccines, and the moment is a fund for rich countries to help low-income countries to participate.
The Canadian Coalition for Global Health Research and the Canadian Society for International Health have criticized Canada for acting to purchase vaccine doses for itself, hampering efforts to ensure that vaccines are distributed equally around the world.
GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, said Monday that 64 countries have joined the COVAX Facility, adding Canada, but the United States did not join.
This Canadian Press report was first published on September 22, 2020.