Takeda's dengue vaccine still mostly effective for some cases —new trial

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited’s dengue vaccine scored 73.3% efficacy, according to the results of its latest trial released on Saturday.

However, the vaccine candidate or TAK-003 still showed lack of efficacy to a certain type of the dengue virus in people who haven’t been infected, or seronegative people based on the Phase 3 trial.

Takeda said the overall vaccine efficacy (VE) was at 73.3% based on the 18-month data of the trial. The overall VE of the vaccine based on the 12-month data of the trial was at 80.2%.

Sanofi Pasteur’s Dengvaxia, which was challenged for its safety, has 59.2% vaccine efficacy.

Takeda’s trial is taking place at sites in dengue-endemic areas in the Philippines, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Brazil, Colombia, Panama, Dominican Republic and Nicaragua.

Presented at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) 68th Annual Meeting, the data also include assessment of the vaccine by serotype, baseline serostatus and disease severity.

Results showed that the dengue vaccine failed to protect seronegative individuals from the dengue serotype 3 virus.

Trials for the candidate vaccine are continuing, Takeda said.

The efficacy of the Takeda dengue vaccine varies for different serotypes: 69.8%  efficacy for serotype 1 virus; 95.1% for dengue serotype 2; and 48.9% for dengue serotype 3.

Takeda obtained insufficient number of dengue serotype 4 cases to adequately assess efficacy. 

“While additional data is needed to fully understand the profile of TAK-003, particularly against serotype 3 in seronegatives, we see its potential to address key priorities for dengue control, including protection of seronegative populations and prevention of hospitalization,” said the medical director of Takeda’s Dengue Clinical Development, Shibadas Biswal, who presented the results at the ASTMH. —Joviland Rita/LBG/KG, GMA News