Sanofi Introduces Pentavalent Paediatric Vaccine �Shan5' in India

Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of Sanofi, has launched its paediatric pentavalent vaccine, �Shan5', developed and manufactured by its affiliate Shantha in India.

The vaccine is a fully-liquid five-in-one, convenient, safe and high-quality vaccine that provides efficient protection for children from 6 weeks against five diseases: diphtheria, tetanus,pertussis, Hib and hepatitis B.

The launch of �Shan5' vaccine acquired prequalification status from the World Health Organization (WHO) last April. Shan5's prequalification gives many more children in India access to the latest high- quality, fully-liquid, 5-in-1 vaccine.

Further, the prequalification helps Shan5 secure the supply of pentavalent combination vaccines in over 50 low-income countries. It adds to the current list of four vaccines that Shantha manufactures that includes Shanchol-the innovative cholera vaccine.

"A significant number of babies born every year in India do not have access to modern vaccination programmes. The launch of Shan5 in India means that 27 million babies born annually in India will have access to vaccination, to protect them from 5 potentially deadly diseases. By launching Shan5, Shantha will be contributing to filling this immunization gap for the benefit of babies and their parents", said Dr.Harish Iyer, CEO-Shantha.

Shan5 vaccine has been developed and is produced by Shantha in Hyderabad, India.

Shantha is a biotechnology pioneer from the emerging countries, founded by Dr. K I Varaprasad Reddy in 1993 in Hyderabad, India.

Shantha and Sanofi Pasteur are also developing a new pediatric combination vaccine based on Shan5 that will incorporate Sanofi Pasteur's Inactivated Polio Vaccine in order to secure polio eradication.



Source: Medindia