Sanofi Pasteur, IVI partner to support Dengue Vaccine Initiative

Sanofi Pasteur’s dengue vaccine candidate, which targets all four virus serotypes, is in Phase 3 clinical study.

Sanofi Pasteur dengue vaccine candidate has been evaluated in clinical studies (Phase 1, 2) in adults and children in the US, Asia and Latin America.

Overall, a balanced immune response against all four serotypes was observed after three doses of the vaccine.

The vaccine is well tolerated with a similar safety profile after each dose.

Clinical studies in adults and children are ongoing in Mexico, Colombia, Honduras, Puerto Rico, Peru, the Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore, Australia, and Thailand.

Sanofi-aventis Vaccines senior vice president Olivier Charmeil said the IVI will be a key player in facilitating discussions among policy makers, with the objective of ensuring that once licensed the vaccine will be made available to those populations that need it most in a timely manner.

IVI chairman of the Board of Trustees Ragnar Norrby said with a dengue vaccine on the short term horizon, this collaboration will focus on accelerating its adoption and introduction and on making it accessible to those at highest risk of dengue.

The IVI launched the DVI in 2010, in collaboration with the Sabin Vaccine Institute, the Johns Hopkins University, and the World Health Organization, to build on the work of the Pediatric Dengue Vaccine Initiative and to further awareness of the need to support the development and use of dengue vaccines.

The goal of the DVI is to accelerate the introduction of safe and broadly protective vaccines into the national immunization programs of endemic and developing countries.

The IVI conducts research in 30 countries in Asia, Africa, and Central and South America on vaccines against diarrheal infections, bacterial meningitis and pneumonia, Japanese encephalitis, and dengue fever, and develops new and improved vaccines, delivery routes and adjuvants at its headquarters in Seoul, Korea.