SNY Sanofi

By Noemie Bisserbe and Denise Roland 

PARIS-- Sanofi SA said Tuesday it had launched a new research project to develop a vaccine against the Zika virus, joining the race to control an outbreak that the World Health Organization said constitutes a global public health emergency.

Sanofi Pasteur, the French drugmaker's vaccine division, said it would take advantage of its established research and infrastructure for its newly approved dengue vaccine--the world's first immunization program against the mosquito-borne virus--to attack Zika, a virus in the same family.

"Theoretically, there could be some cross immunity," said Nicholas Jackson, Sanofi Pasteur global head of research, who will be driving the new vaccine project. "We will need to investigate this clinically."

The company also said Tuesday it plans to cut 600 jobs in France over the next three years as part of its continuing restructuring plans. Sanofi, which has been struggling with increasing pricing pressure in some of its main businesses, is now hoping to boost revenue with new innovative products.

The explosive spread of the Zika virus--the disease could infect as many as four million people in the Americas by year-end according to the WHO--could provide pharmaceutical companies an opportunity to introduce a new blockbuster in an increasingly important therapeutic category. Analysts estimate that Sanofi's Dengvaxia could generate around EUR1.5 billion ($1.6 billion) in revenue by 2020.

It could, however, take years before any new vaccine reaches the market. It typically takes 10-15 years to develop new immunization, and can take even longer: Sanofi worked on its dengue vaccine for two decades. The vaccine's success will also depend on the spread of the virus when it hits the market, and the ability and willingness of governments to launch massive vaccination campaigns, say analysts.

Sanofi's announcement comes a day after the United Nations public health agency, acting on the recommendations of an emergency committee, called for more surveillance, research, and efforts to control the virus's spread. Today, there are no rapid and reliable diagnostic tests, drugs or vaccines for the Zika virus.

Other companies are also in the race.

Last month, GeneOne Life Science Inc., a South Korean biopharmaceutical company, said it had launched a joint research program with U.S. biotech firm Inovio Pharmaceuticals to develop a DNA-based vaccine to prevent and treat the Zika virus infection.

U.K. drug major GlaxoSmithKline said last week that it was assessing its research platform for the potential to develop a Zika vaccine.

The once-obscure virus, which generally makes people only mildly ill for a few days, has become a major global health concern over the past few months, mainly because of its possible links to microcephaly and Guillain-Barré, a rare disorder in which the body's immune system attacks nerve cells.

Health authorities in Brazil, whereas many as 1.5 million people may be infected with the Zika virus, have confirmed 270 cases of microcephaly since October.

Brazil isn't alone. Authorities now say they believe that some cases of microcephaly in babies in French Polynesia may be linked to an outbreak of Zika that occurred there in 2013 and 2014. Brazilian and international health authorities also say Zika may be linked to a rise in the number of cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome. Cases are being investigated in Brazil, El Salvador, and French Polynesia.

Nick Kostov contributed to this article.

Write to Noemie Bisserbe at noemie.bisserbe@wsj.com and Denise Roland at Denise.Roland@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 02, 2016 09:53 ET (14:53 GMT)

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