Drug firm told to pull out ads on dengue vaccine

The Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) has ordered pharmaceutical giant Sanofi Pasteur Inc. to stop airing television and radio advertisements of its dengue vaccine in violation of a ban on promoting prescription or ethical drugs in mass media.

The FDA said in a statement on Tuesday it issued a summons on Dec. 13 directing the drugmaker to take down the ads for Dengvaxia. It has asked Sanofi to explain why it should not be penalized and has asked television and radio stations not to air the ads.

Sanofi said in response that it had been conducting a disease awareness campaign that complied with FDA requirements.

The vaccine became available in 2016 against the tropical mosquito-borne illness. —AP