French drugmaker Sanofi plans to invest 935 million euros ($1.02 billion) over the next few years to develop messenger RNA vaccines in France, a push into the technology behind some of the most effective Covid-19 shots.

Sanofi plans to spend the money through 2026 as part of a 2 billion-euro global investment program announced last July to accelerate its mRNA strategy, according to a statement Monday.

The drugmaker said it intends to create a full mRNA technology value chain in France, from research and development to the production of vaccines. The government is backing the plan as part of its effort to prepare for future pandemics.

Sanofi is rushing to catch up with rivals like Moderna Inc. and the BioNTech SE-Pfizer Inc. alliance that generated tens of billions of dollars in revenue and saved lives by rapidly developing mRNA Covid vaccines. Sanofi in September decided to halt work on its own mRNA Covid shot after running into delays.

The drugmaker bought its mRNA development partner Translate Bio Inc. for $3.2 billion last year to jumpstart the push into the area.

Original source here.