Sanofi invests €350m in dengue fever facility
Vaccines have been identified by Sanofi, and several other pharmas, as a growth area in the coming years, with the prevalence of dengue fever meaning there will be a sizeable market for a treatment.
Sanofi is still developing the vaccine, which is currently in clinical trials, with regulatory submission possibly being sought in 2012. This would be a year before the vaccine plant is predicted to be operational, when it will begin producing 100m doses a year.
Christopher Viehbacher, CEO of Sanofi-aventis, said:“This new vaccine production centre is the largest investment ever made by Sanofi-aventis. It illustrates our commitment to providing solutions to unmet medical needs such as dengue, a disease that potentially puts almost half of the world’s population at risk.
“With this new plant, Sanofi-aventis will have invested in France over €1bn since 2005 in vaccine production, sustaining French industrial capacities and reinforcing Sanofi Pasteur as the world leader in vaccines.”
The facility is being constructed in Neuville-sur-Saone, near Sanofi Pasteur’s headquarters in Lyon, France. Sanofi is currently constructing or renovating 12 manufacturing facilities.
The spread of dengue fever
Successful development and regulatory approval of Sanofi’s dengue fever vaccine will provide a treatment for an increasingly large number of patients that are being affected as the disease spreads.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has stated that “the incidence of dengue has grown dramatically around the world in recent decades”, with 2.5bn people now at risk.
