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Sanofi turns down Philippines' request to refund costs of used dengue vaccine

Sanofi turned down the Philippine government's request to fully refund 3 billion pesos spent on its suspended dengue vaccine Dengvaxia, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported.

The French drugmaker said in November 2017 that Dengvaxia could worsen the disease in people not previously infected, resulting in a government probe into the immunization program.

Sanofi, which refunded an initial 1.16 billion pesos last month for unused doses of the vaccine, had also agreed to pay for any case of adverse events proven to be caused by Dengvaxia, the newspaper had reported earlier.

"Agreeing to refund the used doses of Dengvaxia would imply that the vaccine is ineffective, which is not the case," Sanofi said in a letter to the country's Department of Health, the report said.

The French drugmaker added that it had earlier agreed to refund costs for unused doses of Dengvaxia to "cooperate" with the department and not due to any safety concerns.

A Philippine government-ordered investigation had earlier found that Dengvaxia may be linked to three deaths in the country, adding that it was difficult to directly connect the deaths to the vaccine, according to a Reuters report.

Sanofi said in the letter that the investigation showed no evidence directly linking Dengvaxia to any of the previously reported deaths, adding that the company would provide free new doses in case the government decides to reinstate the vaccine program.

Responding to Sanofi's refusal, President of the Philippine Senate Aquilino Pimentel III said the multinational should be sued "even in international courts", the newspaper reported the same day.

As of Feb. 5, US$1 was equivalent to 51.55 Philippine pesos.