Sanofi announces to manufacture Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine in U.S.

WASHINGTON (Axios): Sanofi announced Monday it will manufacture up to 200 million doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine at its site in Ridgefield, New Jersey, from September.

Why it matters: The agreement between Sanofi and Moderna should not only boost the U.S. coronavirus vaccine rollout, it should also help global efforts as the doses will likely be exported.

Of note: French multinational pharmaceutical giant Sanofi is the only manufacturer that is producing doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech, Johnson & Johnson and now Moderna, in addition to developing two of its own coronavirus vaccines.

The big picture: More than 1 billion COVID-19 doses have now been produced. The U.S. has administered the most — 23% of the worldwide total, statistics from Our World in Data show.

The World Health Organization earlier this month criticized a “shocking imbalance” in vaccine distribution, with poorer nations being left behind.

While the U.S. has kept nearly all of its supply for domestic use, it’s expected to become a major exporter once its domestic needs are met.