CHMP recommends approval of Dengvaxia in dengue disease.- Sanofi.
The European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has adopted a positive opinion for the marketing authorization of Sanofi's dengue vaccine Dengvaxia, recommending its approval in Europe. The indication for the dengue vaccine recommended by the CHMP is for use in prevention of dengue disease caused by dengue virus serotypes 1, 2, 3 and 4 in individuals 9 to 45 years of age with prior dengue virus infection and living in endemic areas. European Commission approval of the vaccine is expected in December 2018.
The dengue vaccine has been evaluated in studies involving more than 40,000 people from 15 countries with up to six years of follow-up data from large-scale clinical safety and efficacy investigations.
Comment: A person can get dengue more than once as there are four distinct virus serotypes circulating worldwide. Dengue infection is unique in that a secondary infection tends to be worse than the first infection. Therefore, preventing dengue in individuals with a prior dengue infection has the potential to reduce the high human and economic costs of severe dengue.