Takeda’s dengue vaccine authorized in the European Union


The Qdenga dengue vaccine, developed by Japan’s Takeda, has been given the green light to be marketed in the European Union, becoming the second approved vaccine against this disease affecting hundreds of millions of people each year.

The European Commission has approved the placing on the European market of the Qdenga vaccine (TAK-003) in individuals aged four years or over to prevent this viral infection transmitted to humans by mosquito bites. The vaccine can protect against four different serotypes of this virus.

100 to 400 million infections per year

The European authorizationmarks a turning point for Qdenga as we move closer to realizing our aspiration to help reduce the global burden of dengue fevercommented Gary Dubin, President of Takeda’s Global Vaccines Business Unit, quoted in a statement released Thursday, December 8. “It is becoming easier to travel, and our once vast world has become much smaller, increasing the risk of dengue disease for those who live in dengue-endemic areas and for those who travel to those areas.“, he added.

Takeda shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange closed up 1.79 percent at 4,091 yen on Friday following the announcement of Qdenga’s approval for the European Union. Dengue fever is a very common virus in hot countries, causing 100 to 400 million infections each year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Qdenga, already approved in Indonesia since last August, is the second dengue vaccine approved in the world, after Dengvaxia, developed by the French laboratory Sanofi and approved from the end of 2015. The use of this one had however been supervised after Sanofi discovered in 2017 that Dengvaxia could cause dengue-like symptoms in children who had never had the virus before.

Dengvaxia continued to be approved thereafter, but only for children who had already contracted the virus in the past, making mass vaccination campaigns impossible.



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