Vaccine global public good, not for market forces: French government on Sanofi CEO's US tilt

As controversy erupted over Sanofi's chief executive Paul Hudson comments that the US would get priority because "it's invested in taking the risk" to develop the coronavirus vaccine, French President Emmanuel Macron's office said it would hold talks with Sanofi executives at the Elysee Palace early next week.

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The French presidency said "any vaccine be treated as a global public good, which is not submitted to market forces." Sanofi is a French pharmaceutical company headquartered in Paris.

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe waded into the controversy on Twitter declaring: "Equal access to this vaccine for all is not negotiable."

France is one of the hardest hit countries with the virus claiming over 27,000 lives with more than 178,1800 infection cases. French officials have pointed out that Sanofi has received several million euros as research credits as it seeks to find a cure for the virus.

Hudson had earlier said that "the US government has the right to the largest pre-order because it's invested in taking the risk" creating a firestorm in France.

Amid the raging controversy, the European Medicines Agency said it sees the possibility of vaccine within the year.

"We can see the possibility if everything goes as planned that some of them (vaccines) could be ready for approval in a year from now," Marco Cavaleri, member of European Medicines Agency said, while stating that he would be surprised if a vaccine wasn't found eventually.

"I would be surprised that if at the end of the day we don't have any vaccine for COVID-19," he said adding that he was "sceptical" about reports that a vaccine could be ready by September.

There is a global race underway to find a cure for the virus which has affected over 4 million around the world with the United States accounting for most cases totalling over 1.3 million with over 80,000 deaths.