PARIS, (Reuters) – French drugmaker Sanofi, developing the first vaccine against dengue fever, said its product reduced disease cases by 60.8 percent in a large final clinical trial.
Sanofi has invested more than 1.3 billion euros ($1.7 billion) in the project, undertaking two decades of research on the world’s fastest-growing tropical disease.
The final study – conducted on 20,875 children aged 9-16 across five countries in Latin America – confirmed that the vaccine was safe, provided high protection against dengue haemorrhagic fever and cut by 80 percent the risk of hospitalization, the Paris-based company said yesterday.
It was 42.3 percent efficient in tackling serotype 2, one of the viral disease’s four strains, compared to 35 percent in a previous Asian trial on some 10,000 children, a relatively weak rate that has puzzled scientists.
