Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of Sanofi (EURONEXT: SAN and NYSE: SNY), announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved use of Quadracel™ (Diphtheria and Tetanus Toxoids and Acellular Pertussis Absorbed and Inactivated Poliovirus; DTaP-IPV) vaccine for active immunization against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis and poliomyelitis in children 4 through 6 years of age.
"The FDA approval of Quadracel vaccine provides health care providers with a new combination vaccine, potentially reducing the number of vaccine injections children aged 4 through 6 would need," said David P. Greenberg, M.D., Vice President, U.S. Scientific and Medical Affairs, Sanofi Pasteur. "Our goal is to help remove barriers to timely immunization and we think this combination vaccine could help ensure children are getting vaccinated in line with current recommendations."
To protect infants and children from life-threatening diseases, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend children 4 through 6 years of age receive both their fifth dose of the diphtheria, tetanus and acellular pertussis (DTaP) vaccine series and their fourth dose of inactivated poliovirus (IPV) vaccine series.1 Quadracel vaccine can be administered as a fifth dose in the DTaP series and as a fourth or fifth dose in the IPV series in children 4 through 6 years of age.
This FDA approval is based on data from a pivotal multicenter, randomized, controlled, Phase III study designed to compare the safety and immunogenicity of Quadracel vaccine (DTaP-IPV) with DAPTACEL (DTaP) and IPOL (IPV) vaccines in children 4 through 6 years of age who were previously vaccinated with DAPTACEL and/or Pentacel (DTaP-IPV/Hib) vaccines. Results show Quadracel vaccine has similar safety and immunogenicity profiles as compared to those of separately administered DAPTACEL and IPOL vaccines.
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