The Qdenga vaccine from the Japanese pharmaceutical company Takeda is a biological that Paraguay wants to acquire to combat dengue cases, said Luis Cousirat, director of the Expanded Immunization Program (PAI). However, he stated that the manufacturer’s limited production and the lack of health registration in the country prevent the purchase. For weeks, dengue has shown an accelerated increase in cases, which mainly affects the pediatric population.
By ABC Color
January 7, 2024 – 1:57 p.m.
Luis Cousirat, director of the Expanded Immunization Program (PAI), assured ABC that the Ministry of Public Health (MSPBS) intends to acquire vaccines against dengue. However, he maintained that the low production of the manufacturing laboratory prevents Paraguay from purchasing biological products of Japanese origin.
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“From the PAI we have made contact with the representatives of Takeda (Japan’s largest pharmaceutical company), with the intention of registering the product in the country, but taking into account the very limited production of the laboratory, there is no interest from the producer in this case – not the country – in making this registration, because they will not be able to comply with any contract for the provision of vaccines,” Cousirat told ABC Color.
The director of the PAI continued saying: “this vaccine is one more tool to combat dengue, which Public Health does not rule out at all. If today the vaccine was available in sufficient quantities, of course we would be having it and offering it to the population; especially for high-risk groups.”
The Qdenga vaccine from the Japanese pharmaceutical company Takeda has health registration in only four countries in the region.
Cousirat asserted that the limited production of the Japanese pharmaceutical company is the “greatest difficulty” that Paraguay currently has in acquiring the biological. He maintained that “for this dengue epidemic that we are having, it is already very difficult to have those doses that have shown very good results for the four serotypes.”
Brazil closed a deal with Takeda, but production is not enough either
The director of the PAI mentioned that Brazil recently agreed to exchange technology with the Japanese pharmaceutical company for the production of vaccines. However, this agreement is not beneficial for Paraguay either, since the neighboring country will barely have 460 thousand doses to begin the immunization of its population.
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“Brazil, with all the potential it has with vaccine-producing laboratories, has precisely closed a technology exchange with Takeda so that they can produce the vaccine. Both (pharmaceutical companies) Butantan and Fiocruz (Farmanguinhos) are going to develop this biological. They would begin vaccination in February, but only with 460 thousand doses for a population of more than 214 million inhabitants. This shows us that there is a shortage in the production of this vaccine as there is only one laboratory in the world that produces it,” he said.
The care of patients with febrile symptoms has registered a significant increase, according to the Ministry of Public Health (MSPBS).
In relation to the biological health record, the director of the PAI indicated that currently only four countries in the region have the corresponding authorization: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico. “But this does not imply that the vaccine is available in sufficient quantity,” he highlighted.
Qdenga vaccine does not have health registration in Paraguay
The health record of Takeda’s Qdenga vaccine has also not been managed by any laboratory or private company in Paraguay, Dr. Hernán Rodríguez, from the National Directorate of Health Surveillance (Dinavisa), confirmed to ABC.
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“The mechanism for health registration establishes that a local company must request that health registration from Dinavisa. If no company applies, it cannot be granted; There must always be a company that requests health registration. Currently no one applied, there is no company in Paraguay that has applied,” said the doctor.
In relation to the antidengue vaccine from the pharmaceutical company Sanofi, previously marketed in the private sector, Rodríguez maintained that the biological is discontinued.
Sanofi’s dengue vaccine is discontinued in Paraguay, Dinavisa says.
“Sanofi has had a health registry for its vaccine for years, but for the distributor in our country, that vaccine is discontinued,” he said.
In the last three weeks, the General Directorate of Health Surveillance registered 21,761 notifications and 3,512 confirmed cases of dengue.
2024-01-07 16:57:00
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