Former President Benigno S. Aquino III, under questioning by Senate probers on Thursday, confirmed meeting with officials of the Sanofi pharmaceutical company that supplied the P3.5-billion anti-dengue Dengvaxia vaccine during a 2014 presidential visit to France.
Facing the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, chaired by Sen. Richard J. Gordon, Aquino disclosed that he met the Sanofi officials in Paris in 2014 “at their request” coursed through the Department of Health (DOH).
Asked by Gordon if he was provided a background by DOH officials about Sanofi’s record, Aquino replied he was “not informed” after Gordon cited reports that Sanofi was linked to an alleged bribery case.
“I am not aware of those cases [against Sanofi],” Aquino told Senate probers.
Gordon virtually cleared Aquino, but explained he needed to ask questions to get to the bottom of the P3.5-billion Dengvaxia vaccine-supply controversy.
This developed as Thomas Triomphe, who heads of Sanofi Pasteur for the Asia-Pacific region, assured the public there is no cause for alarm over the use of Dengvaxia for the Philippines’s dengue immunization program because the vaccine continues to be safe and effective in providing persistent protection against the dengue infection.
Facing Senate probers, Triomphe affirmed before the joint inquiry on Thursday of Blue Ribbon Committee and the committee on health that there is no “worldwide” scare over the Dengvaxia vaccine, adding it continues to be marketed and used in 10 other countries.
“It is important for the public to understand that the vaccine continues to be good, effective and safe,” Triomphe assured the senators, adding “there is no reason for public panic.”
Triomphe also assured that Sanofi Pasteur is ready to “collaborate and reengage” with the DOH in contributing to the investigations to be done by the task forces on the review of the government’s dengue immunization program.
“Your honor, I understand the question and the concerns. I want to make sure that people understand that we have been a long-term partner of the Philippines’s DOH, and we want to remain a long-term partner of the Philippines’s DOH as we are with the various departments of health all over the world,” he said.