Sanofi

Sanofi (+ 50% Sanofi Pasteur MSD)
2012 Vaccine revenue: $5.54 billion

Sanofi makes two of the top-selling vaccines: PENT Act-HIB, a DTPq, Hib and polio vaccine, and Fluzone/Vaxigrip, a seasonal flu shot. EvaluatePharma says those two should remain among the top 3 best sellers for another 5 years.

But the biggest news for the biggest vaccine maker in the last year, was not what it had hoped for. Its vaccine to protect against four strains of dengue flopped in a highly anticipated trial last year. When the 4,000-patient study was undertaken in Thailand, researchers anticipated hitting a 70% efficacy rate. It wasn't even half that, only 30.2%. The shot showed strong efficacy against types 1, 3 and 4 of the mosquito-borne illness, not against type 2.

It was a hard blow to Sanofi ($SNY), which has invested €350 million ($456 million) in a factory to manufacture the vaccine in anticipation of more than $1 billion in annual sales from the vax. Now, instead of seeking regulatory approval, Sanofi must wait for the data from two big Phase III trials with 31,000 people enrolled in Asia and Latin America.

Still Sanofi continues to build its vaccine business. Like GlaxoSmithKline ($GSK), Sanofi's vaccine unit, Sanofi Pasteur, wheeled and dealed to build partnerships in the last couple of years. It will work with Sutro Biopharma to produce two undisclosed vaccine candidates. And the company teamed with the University of Pittsburgh to develop a universal flu vaccine. Those efforts should help it expand its vaccine revenues to the nearly $8 billion annually that EvaluatePharma projects it will hit in 2018. It says Sanofi's PENT Act-HIB and Fluzone will rank second and third in sales behind Pfizer's ($PFE) Prevnar 13 through that year.

For more:
Sanofi's dengue vaccine falters in clinical trial
Sanofi Pasteur, Sutro team up on vaccine candidates

-- Alison Bryant