Dengue vaccine could be ready by end 2015

A drug giant has achieved breakthroughs in the development of a dengue vaccine, which could be ready by the end of next year, the Straits Times reported Monday.

Guillaume Leroy, head of the dengue vaccine unit of drug giant Sanofi Pasteur, announced the success of a clinical trial in Asia to test the effectiveness of the vaccine at the two-day ASEAN ( Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Dengue Summit held in Angeles City, the Philippines over the weekend, the newspaper said.

It may be the world's first dengue vaccine, as there has so far been no vaccines for dengue.

In the trial conducted by Sanofi Pasteur, dengue cases in the group of about 10,000 - including participants from Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia - fell by more than half after the vaccine candidate was administered.

Another trial involving more than 20,000 people is currently under way in Latin America.

"We are at a very critical milestone," Leroy said. "By the end of the year, we will have a full analysis of all the results."

The outcome of these latest trials brings Sanofi Pasteur a step closer to a goal that has been more than 20 years in the making. The company's work on a dengue vaccine has been hampered by the fact that dengue has four different strains. All must be effectively subdued before any vaccine can be counted a success, which the company said has managed to do.