Dengue vaccine could be ready by 2015
Thailand: French drugs group Sanofi said on Friday that its
vaccine against dengue, a mosquito-borne infection that kills thousands
of people around the world each year, could be launched in about four
years.
“The vaccine could be available... around 2015,” Jean Lang, head of
vaccine development at the group’s subsidiary Sanofi-Pasteur, told
reporters in Bangkok.
The launch date is dependent on regulatory approval in each country
based on the results of trials. The vaccine is the first for dengue to
undergo advanced “Phase III” clinical trials - the final stage before
the results are submitted for regulatory approval.
About 4,000 children in the central Thai province of Ratchaburi, one
of the worst affected areas in the country, are participating in a study
that aims to establish the efficacy of the vaccine. Dengue causes
severe, flu-like symptoms in about 50 million people every year, mainly
in developing countries.e of which is a potentially lethal type.
Channel News Asia |