Panacea, Sanofi settle patent litigation over hexavalent vaccine

Panacea Biotec on Tuesday said it has entered into a settlement with Sanofi Healthcare India Private Limited in a patent infringement litigation over hexavalent vaccine.

Under the terms of settlement agreement, Sanofi has agreed that at present it would not commercially launch its fully liquid hexavalent vaccine Shan6 in India and shall also withdraw the opposition filed against Panacea Biotec’s patent IN 272351 on hexavalent vaccine before the Indian Patent Office.

In turn, Panacea Biotec has agreed to forgo its claim for damages and rendition of accounts in the proceedings against Sanofi.


"We are pleased to inform that the parties have reached a settlement agreement, and pursuant to the joint application filed by the Parties, the said suit has been disposed of by the Hon’ble Delhi High Court on September 13, 2024," Panacea Biotec told in a statement.

The patent suit was filed by Panacea Biotec against Sanofi in May 2021 after the latter received marketing approval for a Shan6, a whole cell Pertussis based hexavalent vaccine (DTwP-HepB-Hib-IPV) by the Drugs Controller General (India).

In its suit Panacea Biotec sought Delhi High Court to restrain Sanofi Healthcare India Private Limited from marketing a fully liquid hexavalent vaccine that would infringe the Company's patent for its wP-IPV based fully liquid hexavalent vaccine, EasySix.

Panacea developed the world’s first whole-cell pertussis(wP) and inactivated polio vaccine (IPV)-based, fully liquid hexavalent (six-in-one) vaccine called EasySix. The vaccine was launched in India in March 2017. The vaccine protects children from diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), tetanus, hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib) which causes pneumonia and meningitis and polio.