NewsDesk @bactiman63

On Friday, Takeda announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommended the approval of Takeda’s dengue vaccine candidate, TAK-003, for the prevention of dengue disease caused by any serotype in individuals four years of age and older in Europe and in dengue-endemic countries participating in the parallel EU-M4all procedure.

This transmission electron micrograph (TEM) depicts a number of round, Dengue virus particles that were revealed in this tissue specimen/ CDC

The final step in the path to approval in Europe is Marketing Authorization from the EMA, which is expected in the coming months.

Regulatory reviews will also progress in dengue-endemic countries in Latin America and Asia.

“We are one step closer towards the approval of a dengue vaccine that could benefit many of the millions of individuals around the world exposed to dengue. This is a major moment for the global health community, European countries and the dengue-endemic countries that participated in the EU-M4all procedure,” said Gary Dubin, M.D., president of the Global Vaccine Business Unit at Takeda. “We have been working for many years to help improve the way dengue can be prevented. Our efforts to provide a new option for dengue prevention support Takeda’s overall goal to provide long-term societal value to the people we serve.”

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The incidence of dengue has grown dramatically around the world in recent decades, causing an estimated 390 million infections and 500,000 hospitalizations annually.  The rise in cases can be attributed to factors such as urbanization, globalization and climate change. Severe dengue accounts for about 5% of dengue cases and is a leading cause of serious illness and death among children and adults in Latin America and Asia.  Dengue is the second most diagnosed cause of fever in travelers returning to Europe from endemic countries. Its presence is far-reaching in endemic countries across the Americas, South-East Asia and Western Pacific regions and is growing in non-endemic areas in continental Europe, including France, Italy, Germany, Spain and the United States.

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“The global health community has been eager for a dengue vaccine that is accessible without the barrier of pre-vaccination testing,” said Dr. Ooi Eng Eong, Professor of Emerging Infectious Diseases at Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore. “The robust clinical data provided by Takeda shows that its dengue vaccine has the potential to help prevent dengue cases and hospitalizations. Today, we are closer to helping improve dengue prevention and reducing the burden of disease on countries, communities and health systems.”

Read more at Takeda