Sanofi Pasteur’s RotaTeq receives backing from UK nurses

Sanofi Pasteur has published a study which highlights the time-saving benefits its pentavalent oral rotavirus vaccine RotaTeq can offer to nurses in the UK.

The vaccines firm funded a recent ICM Research survey, which showed that UK practice nurses believe administering RotaTeq at the same time as the routinely-given injectable DTaP/IPV/Hib vaccine would deliver savings in terms of consultation and administration time.

It was calculated that co-administration of the two drugs would take less than 15 minutes, compared to two separate visits of ten minutes each.

Bracknell GP George Kassianos, immunisation lead at the Royal College of General Practitioners, said this illustrates the potential economic benefits of incorporating RotaTeq into the childhood vaccination programme.

He explained: "The oral rotavirus vaccine can be easily added to the appointment time during which we administer the injectable vaccines to our infants."

Earlier this year, Sanofi Pasteur announced that it has entered into a new partnership with cell-based therapy specialist Vivalis, which will see the two firms ally on creating new infectious disease treatments.