22 Jul 2013

French company poised to produce dengue vaccine

5:01 am on 22 July 2013

A French pharmaceutical company Sanofi Pasteur says it expects to be able to produce the first dengue vaccine by the end of the year.

The mosquito-borne disease affects up to 100 million people a year worldwide, including many Pacific Island countries.

The director of the Pasteur Research Center in New Caledonia, Dominique Baudon, says trials are being finalised.

"It was difficult to obtain a vaccine for all the types of virus. Currently, there is another study in Africa and in Asia. If this study confirms the effectiveness of this vaccine, Sanofi Pasteur plans to supply 100 million doses a year before 2015."

If the dengue vaccine is to be launched on the market, it might be released in 2015 in New Caledonia where more than 10,000 people have been infected this year.