By Simeon Bennett
Jan. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Sanofi-Aventis SA’s experimental vaccine against dengue protected healthy volunteers against all four strains of the virus in a study, bringing the drugmaker closer to providing the first vaccine against a disease that threatens 40 percent of the world’s population.
The vaccine protected all 66 adults a U.S. study in which they were given three shots over 15 months, according to the results published Jan. 9 on the Journal of Infectious Diseases Web site. Most people were protected after two doses, including those who received a placebo for the first injection and the vaccine for the second and third shots, the study showed.
Sanofi is conducting a larger trial that includes children, who are more likely to become sick or die from dengue. Paris- based Sanofi said in May it will invest 350 million euros ($508 million) to build a plant to make dengue vaccine in France, preparing for demand that analysts have said could generate annual market revenue of about $1 billion.
The study “is an important step,” the researchers wrote in the trial funded by Sanofi. “These results paved the way for ongoing and future large-scale efficacy trials of our candidate.”
There is no specific treatment for dengue. The most common side effects in the study were headache, malaise and muscle pain, the researchers said.
About 2.5 billion people worldwide live in areas prone to the mosquito-borne viruses, which the World Health Organization says causes about 50 million infections each year. Mosquitoes capable of transmitting the virus are now found in 28 U.S. states, according to a 2009 study.
To contact the reporter on this story: Simeon Bennett in Singapore at sbennett9@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: January 11, 2010 00:08 EST
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