Poliovirus vaccine inactivated(Sanofi)

Sanofi has gained approval for IMOVAX-Polio, an alternative injectable vaccine. According to a report, this new vaccine will replace the Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV) ShanIP in India. IMOVAX-Polio is an alternative IPV vaccine that has been used in more than 100 countries for over 40 years, a Sanofi India spokesperson commented. The vaccine has the same composition/formulation as ShanIPV, the spokesperson added. “We wish to assure all stakeholders that there will be no shortage of IPV vaccines in India on our account, towards safeguarding the nation’s status of remaining polio-free. We remain fully committed to fulfilling our public health mission in India,” the spokesperson noted. To ensure that there is no interruption to the availability of IPV vaccines, the French firm has already obtained approvals for IMOVAX-Polio. “Sanofi has had to adapt its strategy and portfolio to these (emerging) trends. Accordingly, Sanofi Healthcare India Pvt Ltd (SHIPL) announced that by the end of 2023, it will discontinue ShanIPV, which was only filled and packaged at our factory in Hyderabad, India,” the spokesperson added. Launched in India in 2015, ShanIPV is a trivalent inactivated injectable vaccine. Under the government’s immunisation program, the vaccine was injected in two stages at six weeks and 14 weeks of age. Sanofi and Serum Institute of India are the leading suppliers of IPV vaccines in India. The French drugmaker is also planning to enhance its presence in the diabetes segment and grow its consumer healthcare business after spinning it off into a new entity while also looking at local production of its various best-in-class products in India. Sanofi has a pipeline of 12 different products lined up for launch in India.

“We wish to assure all stakeholders that there will be no shortage of IPV vaccines in India on our account,” a Sanofi India spokesperson told Fierce Pharma on Thursday. After press reports flagged the possibility of an inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) shortage in India, Sanofi says it's ready to supply the nation with a newly approved shot. Thursday, after the company gained an approval for a new polio vaccine, IMOVAX-Polio, Sanofi issued an assurance that it will be able to keep providing sufficient supplies. The developments come quickly on the heels of an Economic Times report alleging that a shortage crisis was looming following Sanofi’s decision to shut down certain vaccine manufacturing operations in the country. Last September, Sanofi revealed plans to discontinue its previous polio shot in India. Still, to hear Sanofi tell it, India shouldn’t be concerned. The company’s local branch remains “dedicated to supporting India’s public health program for polio,” a Sanofi India spokesperson told Fierce Pharma on Thursday. “To ensure that there is no interruption to the availability of IPV vaccines, we have already obtained approvals for our product IMOVAX-Polio,” she added. Regarding the company’s decision to discontinue its previous polio shot, Sanofi India’s spokesperson pointed to the rapidly shifting healthcare environment in the country following the COVID-19 pandemic. Amid rising demand for production capacity in India, Sanofi last year opted to discontinue its older polio shot. The company's spokesperson noted that the shot was only filled and packaged at the company’s factory in Hyderabad, while the antigens themselves were manufactured in France. Sanofi and its Indian affiliate Shantha Biotechnics pledged to supply polio vaccines for India’s universal immunization program through UNICEF back in 2015.  Sanofi got its hands on Shantha in 2009 when the French drugmaker’s vaccine division agreed to pay 550 million euros ($784 million) for the Merieux Alliance’s controlling stake in the Indian shot maker. Elsewhere in India, Sanofi last week called on local drugmakers Cipla and Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories to help sell its central nervous system (CNS) drugs and vaccines in country. Cipla is slated to market six Sanofi CNS medicines, including the leading epilepsy therapy Frisium, which Sanofi will continue to own, import and manufacture. Dr. Reddy’s, for its part, is on deck to sell five Sanofi vaccines in the country.