French Pharmaceutical company Sanofi Pasteur agreed on Monday to the demand of the Philippine government to shoulder the cost of any death or case which would be proven to be causally related to Dengvaxia vaccine.
Sanofi’s representative Thomas Triomphe said in a joint Senate committee hearing into the P3.5 billion dengue vaccination program that “should there be any case related to (the) vaccination, death or any other case, we will shoulder the cost, if there is a causality that has been demonstrated through scientific evidence.”
Senator Risa Hontiveros, who earlier said that refunding of the cost of unused dengue vaccine Dengvaxia is not enough, commended the decision of Sanofi.
“Thank you very much Mr. Triomphe. Finally Mr. Chairman, we have, on the third and final attempt to ask this question, we have a final confirmation,” she said.
Triomphe stressed, “I’m saying that we will shoulder the cost of any death or other event that is causally related to the vaccination.”
On Friday, January 19, Duque announced that the Pharmaceutical company has paid the government an initial P1.16 billion reimbursement. However, Duque said that the company also needs a set-aside fund for families whose members died due to Dengvaxia and demand in full the P3.5 billion the government spent for the vaccine.
“Hihingin pa rin natin, hindi lang iyung nagamit, kundi pati iyung indemnification fund. Kailangan magtabi sila ng pondo para doon sa mga pamilya na namatayan [We are also asking a refund for used doses and an indemnification fund. They need to set aside funds for the families of those who died],” Duque said in an interview over DZMM.
For the record, the government has earlier halted the dengue immunization program after Sanofi warned that according to a new clinical analysis, the said dengue vaccine is more harmful to individuals without prior dengue infections.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has also ordered the French pharmaceutical company, Sanofi Pasteur, to suspend its distribution, sale, and marketing of Dengvaxia in order to protect the general public.