Sanofi on PAO’s lawsuit: No evidence of Dengvaxia’s link to deaths

MANILA, Philippines — French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi Pasteur on Tuesday maintained that there is no evidence directly linking Dengvaxia to the deaths of the 14 children who had been immunized by the controversial vaccine.

“In Dengvaxia clinical trials conducted over more than a decade and the over one million doses of the vaccine administered, no deaths causally related to the vaccine have been reported to us,” Sanofi said in a statement.

Sanofi’s statement comes on the heels of the filing of a civil suit by the Public Attorney’s Office over the controversial anti-dengue vaccine Monday.

PAO asked for more than P4 million in damages for the family of a 10-year-old girl whom the agency claims died after receiving Dengvaxia.

Acosta led the filing of the civil case against 30 respondents, including former Health officials, headed by former Secretary Janette Garin, the board and officers of Sanofi and of distributor Zuellig Pharma Corp.

Sanofi cited the statement of Doctors for Public Welfare, a group of health experts and practitioners, which said that “none of the deaths of the 14 children autopsied were proven to be due to Dengvaxia.”

It also noted the statement of Philippine General Hospital Director Gerard Legaspi, who said that “there is no direct evidence for now that the vaccine caused any change in the course of the dengue shock syndrome of the kids.”

“We sympathize with all the families who have suffered the loss of a child. Sanofi Pasteur’s mission is to reduce or eliminate suffering for millions around the world the world through vaccination, including in the Philippines,” the drug maker said.

The company on Monday rejected the request of the Philippine government for a refund on used Dengvaxia doses as doing so “would imply that the vaccine is ineffective”—an assertion it disputes.

It also declined the demand of the Health department to financially support an indemnity fund for the families of the affected children because “there are no safety or quality concerns about the Dengvaxia vaccine.”

More than 830,000 people have been vaccinated with Dengvaxia since it was launched during the term of Garin.

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