Sanofi Pasteur sends yellow fever vacc to combat epidemic

Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of French drug major Sanofi-Aventis, says that it has shipped six million doses of its Stamaril vaccine in response to a UNICEF request for aid in combating the yellow fever epidemic currently sweeping Latin America. The firm explained that, under UNICEF's stockpiling program, Brazil received four million of the doses, with neighbor Paraguay being provided with the remainder.

Sanofi Pasteur's chief executive, Wayne Pisano, said that the firm had "mobilized its teams to make this public health emergency a priority." Over the past 20 years the company has provided around 200 million doses of yellow fever vaccine to more than 150 countries worldwide.