Takeda stops VAXEM Hib launch as supplier halts production

10 May 2017

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.

This article is accessible to registered users, to continue reading please register for free. A free trial will give you access to exclusive features, interviews, round-ups and commentary from the sharpest minds in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology space for a week. If you are already a registered user please login. If your trial has come to an end, you can subscribe here.

Try before you buy

Free

7 day trial access

Take a Free Trial

All the news that moves the needle in pharma and biotech
Exclusive features, podcasts, interviews, data analyses and commentary from our global network of life sciences reporters.
Receive The Pharma Letter daily news bulletin, free forever.

Become a subscriber

£820

Or £77 per month

Subscribe Now

Unfettered access to industry-leading news, commentary and analysis in pharma and biotech.
Updates from clinical trials, conferences, M&A, licensing, financing, regulation, patents & legal, executive appointments, commercial strategy and financial results.
Daily roundup of key events in pharma and biotech.
Monthly in-depth briefings on Boardroom appointments and M&A news.
Choose from a cost-effective annual package or a flexible monthly subscription

The Pharma Letter is an extremely useful and valuable Life Sciences service that brings together a daily update on performance people and products. It’s part of the key information for keeping me informed

Chairman, Sanofi Aventis UK