Sanofi Pasteur presents positive results of dengue vaccine

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Sanofi Pasteur , the vaccines division of sanofi-aventis Group, announced today positive results in the development of a vaccine for the global prevention of dengue fever, one of the most widespread tropical diseases. The results are being presented today at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH)'s 56th annual meeting held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.

 

These results have prompted Sanofi Pasteur to immediately expand ongoing clinical trials in Asia and Latin America. Submission to health authorities for registration is anticipated in 2012.

 

"Sanofi Pasteur made research for a vaccine against dengue fever one of its top priorities by investing in the most promising technology and dedicating top scientists to this lifesaving project," said Wayne Pisano, President and Chief Executive Officer of Sanofi Pasteur. "Sanofi Pasteur's goal is to make dengue fever a vaccine-preventable disease as quickly as possible with a vaccine available to people living in endemic countries or traveling to tropical destinations."

 

Immunization with Sanofi Pasteur's tetravalent dengue candidate vaccine generated a seroneutralizing antibody response against all four serotypes of the virus responsible for dengue fever in 100 percent of adults who participated in a trial in the United States.

 

"Developing a dengue vaccine has been a major challenge for over a decade, and we are very pleased with the breakthrough progress made by Sanofi Pasteur with its tetravalent dengue vaccine," said Harold Margolis, MD, Director of the Pediatric Dengue Vaccine Initiative (PDVI). "We believe this moves the world closer to a dengue vaccine that will be available for people who most need it."

 

Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne disease affecting up to 100 million people each year and resulting in 24,000 deaths, mostly among children, according to estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO).2,3 Overall, the disease is a potential threat for close to half the world's population. Dengue disease if often cyclical and causes spikes in demand on local medical resources and places tremendous pressure on strained hospitals and clinics located in endemic countries.

 

Dengue fever occurs mostly in tropical and subtropical countries and it is spreading to new parts of the globe each year. For example, outbreaks recently have been observed in Paraguay and the Middle East. In addition, dengue affects countries such as Australia (Queensland) and the United States (Puerto Rico, Texas-Mexico border, Hawaii and the US-affiliated Pacific Islands).

 

A substantial number of people traveling to endemic regions are also infected each year.

 

Sanofi Pasteur's tetravalent dengue candidate vaccine is based on a new technology incorporating the protein envelopes that provide immunity against the four virus types responsible for dengue fever and the most severe forms of the disease-dengue hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome. 

 

Sourced From : Imprimis Life PR Pvt Ltd