Sanofi links with Emcure for rabies vaccine promotion in India
This article was originally published in Scrip
Sanofi Pasteur has tapped into the commercial capabilities of Zuventus Healthcare, a subsidiary of India's Emcure, for the marketing of the rabies vaccine, Verorab, in India.
The product will be imported and supplied by Sanofi Pasteur India for distribution to Zuventus, while both partners plan to work together to improve awareness about rabies vaccination at the general practitioner and physician level. Verorab is the first vaccine that the Emcure group will promote, and Zuventus plans to target more than 60,000 physicians and general practitioners.
Sanofi told Scrip that the arrangement will not involve any royalty payment to it by the Indian firm.
Verorab, a purified vero cell rabies vaccine, was first launched by Sanofi Pasteur in 1987 in India, and more than 25 million doses of the product have since been distributed in the country.
But the marketing of Verorab has had a somewhat rocky past in India, against the backdrop of a now settled dispute concerning Chiron Behring Vaccines, a 51:49% joint venture between Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics and Aventis Pharma, which manufactured the rabies vaccine, Rabipur, at its Indian facility in Ankleshwar.
Rabipur was marketed for several years by Aventis, before Novartis Healthcare Private was made the new distributor of the product in February 2009. However, in September that year, Sanofi Aventis decided to market Verorab in India. Novartis objected, moving the Bombay High Court to take action against Aventis. In October 2009, the court enjoined Aventis Pharma from distributing Verorab while it was the joint venture partner in the Rabipur business.
In 2010, Aventis Pharma exited the rabies vaccine joint venture, divesting its 49% holding in Chiron Behring to Novartis Pharma for about $22.4 million (scripintelligence.com, 13 December 2010). It was agreed that post closure of the share sale, the pending disputes between Aventis and Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics/the joint venture would stand resolved and all legal proceedings in connection with the dispute would be unconditionally withdrawn.
Aventis, though, has agreed to provide certain utilities and services to the Ankleshwar plant of Chiron Behring for three years from the date of closing on mutually agreed terms. Sanofi clarified that the arrangement with Emcure is "unrelated" to the Novartis settlement.
Novartis had earlier told Scrip that Chiron Behring Vaccines served around one-fourth of the total demand of the private and public anti-rabies vaccine market in India, with the balance being met by other Indian manufacturers together with imports from Europe and China. According to IMS data for 2011, Rabipur and Verorab together accounted for 77% of rabies market sales in India.