Takeda Pharmaceutical has made progress in recruiting subjects for a Singapore leg of a Phase II trial for a dengue vaccine candidate, DENVax. Osaka-based Takeda is aiming to recruit as many as 400 subjects, with 300 signed up so far.
The Jakarta Post reported that the safety and efficacy aimed at two different serotype 2 potencies with the tetravalent vaccine will focus on adults between 21 and 45 years old.
The trial will be held at Singapore General and Changi General hospitals.
As an equatorial nation and travel hub in a region where the disease is endemic, Singapore is home to growing research on dengue.
In addition to the vaccine work, two dengue treatment options are slated for Phase II trials in Singapore this year for studies on the antiviral celgosivir and disease-modifying modipafant.
France-based Sanofi's ($SNY) Dengvaxia dengue vaccine has already won approval in a handful of countries and was launched in April in the Philippines to protect 1 million schoolchildren.
The Sanofi vaccine has varied efficacy against the four dengue serotypes with public health campaigns key to its success.
The Jakarta Post said that Singapore's Health Sciences Authority is currently evaluating Dengvaxia. It noted that in 2014, former Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan suggested the Sanofi vaccine is "not good enough" for Singapore as it provides the best protection against the two serotypes strains of the virus less prevalent in the country.
Takeda Pharmaceutical has said it aims to continue its efforts for a dengue vaccine to protect against all four serotypes with a product potentially on the market by the end of the decade. The company continues carrying on work on the current candidate, which it acquired from U.S.-based Inviragen.
A Takeda spokesman told the newspaper that existing trials showed an induced immune responses to the four serotypes following one or two doses with no safety concerns among the cohort.
- here's the story in the Jakarta Post
- and a link to the trial on clinicaltrials.gov
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