Dr Reddy’s to distribute Qdenga, India’s first dengue vaccine

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, Qdenga, is likely to be introduced in India in the first half of 2027, they added. The vaccine’s price has not yet been decided.

“The approval for marketing authorisation was just granted in July. Hence, the immediate priority is to complete the necessary local processes required before commercial distribution can begin. It would be premature to speculate on pricing before the remaining local processes are complete,” said Mahender Nayak, head of intercontinental markets, Takeda.

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. Further details will be shared at the appropriate time,” said Nayak.

The collaboration follows the approval of Qdenga’s marketing authorisation by India’s Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation in July for people aged 4-60 years.

Dengue remains a significant and evolving public-health challenge in India. 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.

With cases occurring year-round across India, dengue prevention and management is an urgent public-health priority.

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.

The vaccine is administered as a two-dose regimen, given three months apart. 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.

“As the second-largest vaccine player in India, we believe the introduction of India’s first approved dengue vaccine is an important development for the country’s healthcare landscape. Through our collaboration with Takeda, we look forward to making Qdenga available to eligible individuals and contributing to efforts aimed at addressing the country’s dengue burden,” said MV Ramana, CEO, Global Generics, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories.