Sanofiis also working on amRNACOVID-19 vaccine candidate with Translate BioSanofiwillinvestabout400millioneuros($476.4million) in research and development of next-generationvaccinesusingmRNAtechnologies, which proved their efficiency in the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19vaccines.The French drug giant and its British counterpart GlaxoSmithKline surprisedinvestors and customers late last year when they announced a one-year delay to the launch of their joint COVID vaccine, based on a more conventional technology.Sanofihas since pledged to help Pfizer and Moderna manufacture COVID-19 shots in an effort to help meet the huge demand for the United States drugmaker's doses.Sanofiadded on Tuesday that its "mRNACenter of Excellence" will bring together around400employees, and was expected to produce a minimum of six clinical candidates by 2025."During the COVID-19 pandemic,mRNAtechnologies demonstrated potential to deliver newvaccinesfaster than ever before", said Jean-Francois Toussaint, global head of R-D atSanofiPasteur."However, key areas of innovation such as thermostability and tolerability improvements will be critical to unlock the applications ofmRNAin routine vaccination against a broader set of infectious diseases and across all ages," he added.ThemRNAtechnology has proven both effective and safe so far in the vaccine response to COVID-19, including in response to the virus' variants.The latest one, the Delta variant first found in India, is spreading at a fast rate around the world, prompting governments to accelerate their vaccinations programs.French Health Minister Oliver Veran said on Tuesday that the Delta variant represented some 20 percent of COVID cases in France.Sanofiis also working on amRNACOVID-19 vaccine candidate with United States company Translate Bio, for which it has started clinical trials.The two groups, which have been collaborating since 2018, have also started a Phase I clinical trial earlier this year evaluating anmRNA-basedinvestigational vaccine against seasonal influenza.Last month,Sanofiand GlaxoSmithKline launched a late-stage human trial for a recombinant COVID-19 vaccine candidate, which they hope to get approved by the end of 2021.That vaccine is based one of the most established technologies invaccines- used against the human papillomavirus, hepatitis B and pertussis among other pathogens - which aims to introduce lab-made proteins into the body to prod the immune system into developing a targeted defence against the novel coronavirus.