Hyderabad-based Dr Reddy’s Laboratories will promote and distribute India’s first anti-dengue vaccine by Takeda Pharmaceuticals across India’s private market for paediatric and adult vaccination, the companies announced on Friday. The vaccine’s price has not yet been decided. The vaccine, Qdenga, is likely to be introduced in India in the first half of 2027, they added.
He added that through the collaboration announced on Friday, Takeda and Dr Reddy’s will support healthcare-professional engagement, disease awareness, promotion and distribution of Qdenga across India’s private market for paediatric and adult vaccination, in accordance with applicable regulatory requirements. “While inclusion in India’s public immunisation programme remains an important long-term ambition, private-market availability through Dr Reddy’s will provide a pathway for eligible individuals to access the vaccine once it becomes available. Dengue remains a significant and evolving public-health challenge in India. With cases occurring year-round across India, dengue prevention and management is an urgent public-health priority. The vaccine is administered as a two-dose regimen, given three months apart.
According to a nationwide dengue surveillance study by the Virus Research and Diagnostic Laboratory of the Indian Council of Medical Research, all four dengue virus serotypes (DENV-1 to DENV-4) are co-circulating across multiple regions in India, with 1 in 14 patients infected with multiple dengue serotypes concurrently. Qdenga is a live-attenuated tetravalent dengue vaccine, built on a DENV-2 backbone with structural proteins from DENV-1, DENV-3, and DENV-4, enabling broad immune coverage across all four dengue serotypes. At least 60,000 participants were studied in the global clinical programme across eight dengue-endemic countries (Brazil, Colombia, Panama, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Philippines, Thailand and Sri Lanka). The seven-year pivotal Phase 3 TIDES (Tetravalent Immunization against Dengue Efficacy Study, DEN-301) trial showed overall efficacy for all four dengue virus serotypes through seven years, highlighting the durability of the vaccine’s safety and efficacy profile across diverse populations worldwide.
Further details will be shared at the appropriate time,” said Nayak.
