⁍ Sanofi is not involved in the COVID-19 human challenge trials reported to be launched in Britain.

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⁍ Its potential vaccines are not being used in the trials, a spokesman said.

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⁍ Britain will host clinical trials where volunteers would be deliberately infected with the new coronavirus.

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– British scientists are working on a novel way to fight the common cold—by deliberately infecting people with a new strain of the virus, the Financial Times reports. Volunteers in clinical trials will be infected with a new strain of coronavirus, which causes the common cold, then given either an experimental vaccine or a shot that has already been tested on animals. The goal is to see how effective the vaccines are at fighting the common cold, which has killed tens of thousands of people in the last 20 years. “This is a really exciting project,” a British infectious disease expert tells the Financial Times. “It’s a really novel approach to fighting the common cold, and it’s going to be very interesting to see how effective they are.” British scientists are working with French drugmaker Sanofi, which is involved in the project, but a Sanofi spokesman tells Reuters that the company is not involved in the trials and its potential vaccines are not being used. (British scientists are working on a new way to fight the common cold.)