French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi announced Tuesday an investment plan of 400 million euros ($476 million) a year to boost “end-to-end” research and development of next-generation vaccines based on messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) and develop at least six candidate vaccines by 2025.

Sanofi said in a press release that the investment will be “fully financed through resource reallocation”.

According to the French pharmaceutical company, its “first-of-its-kind vaccines mRNA Center of Excellence,” aims to “accelerate the development and delivery of next-generation vaccines by bringing together about 400 dedicated employees” in Cambridge in the US and Marcy-l’Étoile in Lyon in south-eastern France.

“During the COVID-19 pandemic, mRNA technology showed that new vaccines can be produced faster than ever,” said Jean-François Toussaint, head of vaccine research and development at Sanofi Pasteur.

“However, key aspects of the innovation, such as improved heat resistance and tolerance, are important to enable the use of mRNA for routine vaccination against multiple infectious diseases in all age groups,” he said.

Last December, Sanofi announced that its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, which it is co-developing with UK-based GSK, would not be available until the end of 2021, as preliminary studies had not shown sufficient immune response.

The Sanofi and GSK vaccine combines an antigen developed by Sanofi that stimulates the production of antibodies that kill microbes and GSK’s adjuvant technology, an agent that stimulates the immune response elicited by the vaccine, according to reports.

The French newspaper Les Échos said Sanofi has a five-year plan to invest €2 billion in mRNA technology to fill a gap in the development of the COVID-19 vaccine and maintain its leading position in the huge vaccine market.

Vaccines, including influenza vaccines and PPH vaccines (Polio/Pertussis/Hib), accounted for about 6 billion euros of Sanofi’s sales last year, or about 17% of the company’s revenues.