Sanofi agrees to shoulder cost of cases proven to be caused by Dengvaxia

An official of Sanofi Pasteur agreed on Monday to shoulder the cost of any death or case which could be proven to be “causally-related” to the Dengvaxia vaccine they manufactured.

At a joint Senate committee hearing into the P3.5 billion dengue vaccination program, Sanofi’s representative Thomas Triomphe said that “should there be any case related to (the) vaccination, death or any other case, we will shoulder the cost, if there is a causality that has been demonstrated through scientific evidence.”

Senator Risa Hontiveros then commended this move by Sanofi.

“Thank you very much Mr. Triomphe. Finally Mr. Chairman, we have, on the third and final attempt to ask this question, we have a final confirmation,” she said.

Triomphe further clarified his earlier statement by saying, “I’m saying that we will shoulder the cost of any death or other event that is causally related to the vaccination.”

Earlier, the French pharmaceutical giant agreed to refund the P1.4 billion cost of unused Dengvaxia doses three days after the Department of Health (DOH) sent a demand letter to them.

Sanofi Pasteur representative Thomas Triomphe. PHOTO by INQUIRER.net / CATHY MIRANDA

The Philippines was the first country in Asia to approve the use of the vaccine in December 2015.

In April 2016, the DOH, under former Health Secretary Janette Garin’s watch, bought vaccines for public schoolchildren in areas with high incidences of dengue.

But the vaccination drive was halted by current Health Secretary Francisco Duque III when Sanofi bared in November 2017 that Dengvaxia could worsen symptoms of the disease for people who had not previously been infected by the virus. /je