Singapore: Dengue cases have increased almost four-fold in a few Southeast Asian countries this year, and many nations are grappling to tackle tropical disease.

As a relief to the million sufferers, Sanofi declared that its maiden dengue vaccine has cleared the phase III clinical trials. The company said that the vaccine showed promise, reducing cases by 60.8 percent.

In the two-decade long project, Sanofi had invested nearly $1.7 billion. The final study conducted on 20,875 children across five countries, in the age group of 9-16, declared the vaccine to be safe and highly potent upon administration.

The vaccine was found effective against all the four serotypes of the virus. Mr Nicholas Jackson, head of dengue research and development at Sanofi's vaccines said, "The vaccine shows consistent performance. Sanofi aims to start filing regulatory applications for the vaccine early next year and make the vaccine available in at least 100 countries worldwide."

Market analysts believe that the vaccine would bring in $1.31 billion a year, significantly boosting Sanofi's vaccine business. According to the World Health Organization dengue affects nearly 100 million people each year, worldwide.