French pharmaceutical firm Sanofi Pasteur on Wednesday, Feb. 3, gave the assurance that it was respecting the legal processes in the Philippines where its executives are facing charges concerning its anti-dengue vaccine Dengvaxia.
“Sanofi Pasteur, Inc. respects the ongoing legal process and our lawyers are handling these issues,” Sanofi Pasteur said in a statement sent to the Manila Bulletin.
“There have been no convictions with respect to the criminal charges filed against Sanofi Pasteur’s officers and these litigations are still at preliminary stages,” it added.
Sanofi Pasteur issued the statement after the Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 107 issued arrest warrants against the firm’s executives, namely, Stanislas Camart, Jean Louise Grunwald, and Jean Francois Vacherand.
The three executives are among dozens of accused in the criminal cases filed before QC RTC Branch 107 which handling all criminal Dengvaxia cases concerning those who suffered and died after being inoculated with Dengvaxia.
Meanwhile, Sanofi Pasteur expressed confidence that its vaccine is reliable despite the reported deaths.
“We maintain our position that our dengue vaccine is safe and efficacious,” the pharmaceutical firm stated.
“This is consistent with the World Health Organization’s position (WHO) on the vaccine along with the European Medicines Agency and the United States Food and Drug Authority’s decision to grant market authorization for its use in high-endemic areas in Europe and US,” it cited.
Sanofi Pasteur noted that Dengvaxia has been included in “WHO’s List of Essential Medicine.”
“In March 2020, the WHO awarded prequalification status to the dengue vaccine confirming that this vaccine is consistently safe and effective under conditions of use in national immunization programs,” the firm said.
Sanofi Pasteur said the WHO as well as the Department of Health (DOH) also conducted separate investigations into the reported deaths of vaccinees and have “concluded that there was insufficient evidence to establish a causal relationship between the deaths reported in the Philippines and the vaccine.”