Dr. Reddy’s to promote and distribute Sanofi’s vaccine brands

New Delhi: Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Limited (DRL), the Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical major, has announced an exclusive partnership with Sanofi Healthcare India Private Limited to promote and distribute Sanofi’s vaccine brands across the country.

The partnership will include well-established paediatric and adult vaccine brands such Hexaxim, Pentaxim, Tetraxim, Menactra, FluQuadri, Adacel and Avaxim 80U. These brands saw combined sales of about ₹426 crore ($51 million) as per IQVIA MAT February 2024. Sanofi said it will continue to own, manufacture and import them to the country.

M.V. Ramana, chief executive, branded markets (India and emerging markets) at DRL said the company is keen to use this opportunity to serve over 1.5 billion patients by 2030. It will look to leverage its strengths in promotion and distribution to considerably expand engagement with healthcare professionals and help widen access to Sanofi’s well-established and trusted vaccine brands in India, he added.

“We continue our efforts to become the partner of choice in bringing novel, innovative and trusted drugs to patients in India through strategic collaborations. The portfolio now gives Dr. Reddy’s a strong presence in the vaccine segment, propelling us to the second position among vaccines players in India,” Ramana said.

The tie-up gives DRL a stronger portfolio and takes it to second place among vaccine players in India. “The partnership continues Dr. Reddy’s efforts to become the partner of choice in increasing access to novel, innovative as well as trusted drugs for patients in India,” the company said.

“Vaccine confidence has reached its highest [level] in India in the past few years. We’re confident this partnership will further bolster our promise of saving millions of lives against vaccine-preventable diseases with improved vaccination coverage,” said Preeti Futnani, general manager India for vaccines at Sanofi.

On Tuesday Cipla announced its exclusive partnership with Sanofi to distribute and promote its Central Nervous System (CNS) product range in India, which includes six brands, including Frisium anti-epileptic drugs.