BRIEF—Philippines halts sale of Sanofi dengue vaccine

The Philippines has ordered French pharma major Sanofi to stop the sales and marketing of its Dengvaxia dengue vaccine in the country after the company warned last week it could worsen the disease in some cases, according to media reports.

The country’s public immunization program was suspended on Friday.

According to UK public broadcaster the BBC, Sanofi said in a press conference in Manila on Monday that there had been no reported deaths related to its dengue vaccine in the Philippines.

"As far as we know, as far as we are made aware, there are no reported deaths that are related to dengue vaccination," the company's medical director, Ruby Dizon, told reporters on Monday.

Dr Ng Su-Peing, global medical head at Sanofi Pasteur, quoted by The Associated Press, said that those stricken with dengue in the study all had fully recovered.

Some good news? US researchers have found that a Zika vaccine, which Sanofi dropped in September over pricing, produced strong responses in more than 90% of those taking part in an early-stage clinical trial.