Macron Seeks Sanofi Meeting After CEO Sparks Vaccine Concern

• 05.15.2020, 16:59
•  Europe,  World

ria.ru

Sanofi Chief Executive Officer Paul Hudson’s suggestion that the U.S. may get the French drugmaker’s coronavirus vaccine first sparked outrage in France, with President Emmanuel Macron indicating he plans to meet company officials next week, Bloomberg reports.

A vaccine against Covid-19 must be a "common good" that stands "outside of market rules," an official at the Elysee palace said Thursday. Macron was "affected" by the news and a meeting with Hudson has been scheduled for May 19, the official said, asking not to be identified to comply with government rules.

The U.S. will likely be first in line should Sanofi succeed in developing a vaccine, because the country was the first to fund the French company’s research, Hudson said this week in an interview with Bloomberg News. The U.S., which expanded a vaccine partnership with the company in February, expects "that if we’ve helped you manufacture the doses at risk, we expect to get the doses first," Hudson said.