Takeda stops VAXEM Hib launch as supplier halts production

Japan’s largest drugmaker Takeda Pharmaceutical (TYO: 4502) has been forced to cancel its planned launch in Japan of VAXEM Hib, a conjugate vaccine to prevent infections caused by Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib).

This is the result of the discontinuation of the manufacture and supply of VAXEM Hib worldwide by the manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) as part of an ongoing process by GSK to optimize its worldwide manufacturing footprint. This decision is accompanied by the termination of the distribution agreement with Takeda for Japan and discontinue manufacturing and supply of VAXEM Hib to Takeda. GSK is the only supplier of this vaccine to Takeda.

In January 2016, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare approved Takeda’s New Drug Application for VAXEM Hib in children aged from two months to under five years of age, to prevent infections caused by Hib.