Via The Times of India: New-age Japanese Encephalitis vaccine to be available soon. Excerpt:
FRANKFURT: A new age single dose vaccine with over 90% protection rate against Japanese Encephalitis (JE), which kills thousands of Indian children every year, will soon be available in the country.
The vaccine Imojev, made by French pharma giant Sanofi Pasteur, can be used for immunization of those 12 months and older and has undergone successful multi-centre studies in the US, Australia, Thailand and the Philippines with more than 2,400 adults and 2,200 children receiving the vaccine.
A pivotal Phase III study in adults showed that a single dose of Imojev is as good as three doses of other vaccines available.
A single administration of the latest vaccine also elicited a protective level of neutralizing antibodies in approximately 93% and 99% of subjects 14 days and 28 days after vaccine administration, respectively. Over 84% of adults were still sero-protected five years after vaccination.
A Phase III study in children showed that approximately 95% of JE virus naive subjects were sero-protected 28 days after a single dose of the vaccine. The vaccine was well tolerated and there were no safety concerns.
Dr Elias Zerhouni, global president of Sanofi's R&D division, said, "We will soon launch the new age vaccine against JE in India."
Jean Lang, head of Sanofi's dengue vaccine programme, added, "The single dose injectible JE vaccine is ready and will be available in Australia and Thailand at the end of this month. It provides around 90% protection on those older than 12 months. We are in discussions with India's drug controller general about licensing the vaccine for India."
