Sanofi Pasteur licences JE vaccine

Sanofi Pasteur has announced that the company has licensed a Japanese encephalitis (JE) vaccine, ChimeriVaxTM-JE, from Acambis.

This single-dose vaccine will be used in an attempt to improve the public health in a number of Asia Pacific countries experiencing endemics of the disease, including Australia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand.

According to the terms of the agreement, Sanofi Pasteur has been granted international rights to marketing and distribution of the vaccine excluding the Indian subcontinent and US, in addition to limited manufacturing rights.

In exchange, Acambis will receive payments of up to 30 million euros (20.49 million pounds) following authorisation of the compound in relevant countries in addition to royalties on sales.

Last October, Acambis published data from a phase III clinical trial showing the efficacy of a single dose of ChimeriVaxTM-JE, while existing vaccines against JE currently require two or three doses.

Dave Williams, chief executive officer of Sanofi Pasteur, said: “We believe a single-dose vaccine will hold significant advantages for use in routine immunisation programmes in a region where several billion people live.”

He added that the company would assist in the fight against the disease by making the vaccine available to countries suffering an epidemic of JE.

In December 2006, Sanofi Pasteur announced that its production of influenza vaccine for the year had exceeded 170 million doses.