Hopes that a French pharma could develop and supply a vaccine against coronavirus were dashed on Monday when the Pasteur Institute announced it would abandon development of its principal anti-Covid 19 vaccine.

Early trials showed that its vaccine was less effective than it hoped, the Institute said.

In December, another French company, Sanofi, said that its own vaccine will not be ready until the end of 2021.

France will now remain dependant on foreign-made vaccines, such as the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine developed in Germany, which has suffered from production delays.

FILE PHOTO: The Pasteur Institute Reuters