Major Innovation in Poultry Vaccines: Merial Avinewtm NeO Effervescent Tablet Advances Vaccine Delivery

– Global product launch at World Veterinary Poultry Association
Congress supported by Merial-WVPA Innovation in
Vaccination Award –

LYON, France–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Merial, the animal health division of Sanofi, today announced the global
launch of a significant innovation in poultry vaccination technology: an
effervescent tablet vaccine for the prevention of Newcastle disease
virus (NDV). The Avinew^TM NeO effervescent tablet is a
simple, convenient and eco-friendly formulation that contains the same
active ingredients as Merial’s Avinew™ vaccine, with comparable, high
levels of safety and efficacy. Merial’s Avinew vaccine is the world’s
number one avian vaccine in doses sold (15 billion doses in 2014) and is
distributed to poultry farms in more than 80 countries on four
continents.

The Avinew NeO effervescent tablet was launched today at the 2015
International Congress of the World Veterinary Poultry Association
(WVPA) in Cape Town, South Africa. Merial expects to start global
roll-out of the product in the next weeks. The Avinew NeO vaccine is the
first of six planned Merial vaccines in effervescent tablet form to
prevent avian diseases.

Technology advancements like the Avinew NeO tablet are critical to
enhance poultry disease prevention through production and cost
efficiencies in light of the growing need for protein in the world. By
2050, 70 percent more food will be required to feed the world’s
population¹, and by 2020, chicken will overtake pork
as the global animal protein of choice².

Avinew NeO effervescent tablets replace the traditional vial and syringe
vaccine application used for decades by poultry farmers worldwide. The
new vaccine is designed to significantly improve vaccination practices
and reduce costs for poultry producers while maintaining reliable virus
protection, through:

• A simplified mixing and handling process that complies with good
  vaccination practices;
• Improved safety for operators and birds; and
• Environmental benefits of waste reduction, eco-friendly packaging and
  carbon footprint reduction during transportation.

“Merial is excited to introduce the Avinew NeO tablet, whose unique
formulation has the potential to transform poultry vaccination practices
around the world,” said Jérôme Baudon, Global Head of the Avian
Business at Merial. “This introduction is exemplary of Merial’s
commitment to deliver significant innovations to help poultry producers
protect the health of their flocks, and feed our world’s increasing
population. We will continue to further diversify our avian offerings
with innovative vaccines focused on prevention, and respond to the
changing needs of our customers.”

Avinew NeO tablets are packaged in lightweight aluminum blisters and
dissolved in drinking water. The vaccine is administered orally, nasally
or by aerosol spray, whereby droplets enter via the mucus membranes of
the birds. Merial invested more than €15 million at its global
manufacturing site in Lyon-Porte-des-Alpes, France, for the production
of the Avinew NeO vaccines.

At the WVPA Congress 2015, Merial is presenting clinical data from
multiple Avinew NeO, safety, efficacy and bioequivalence studies. In
addition, the Company sponsored the 2015 WVPA-Merial Innovation in
Vaccination Award, presented today to Siba K. Samal, PhD, Professor,
Chair and Associate Dean, VA-MD Regional College of Veterinary Medicine,
University of Maryland. Dr. Samal and his team developed live-attenuated
vaccines by genetically modifying virulent NDV strains circulating in
Indonesia and Mexico. He also engineered NDV as a vector vaccine against
other important poultry diseases such as infectious bursal disease,
avian influenza, infectious bronchitis, and infectious
laryngotracheitis. This novel vaccine technology has wide-spread
application for future vaccine development.

Merial has a 30-year history of partnering with poultry producers
worldwide to improve the health and productivity of their flocks,
primarily through biological vaccines that help prevent a wide range of
highly contagious viruses that have the potential to infect entire
flocks, and cause devastating financial losses for poultry farmers.
Annually, Merial produces more than 90 billion doses in 1,000 poultry
vaccine presentations to protect birds against 20 different diseases
worldwide.

About Newcastle Disease Virus

Newcastle disease virus is a highly contagious and often severe poultry
disease. It is caused by a virus that usually presents as a respiratory
disease, but depression, nervous manifestations, or diarrhea may be the
predominant clinical form. The disease is currently well-controlled in
the United States, Canada and some western European countries but
continues in parts of Africa, Asia and South America. Since wild birds
can sometimes carry the virus without becoming ill, poultry outbreaks
can occur anywhere in unvaccinated flocks; when this occurs, an entire
flock will typically become infected within two to six days³.

About Merial

Merial is a world-leading, innovation-driven animal health company,
providing a comprehensive range of products to enhance the health and
well-being of a wide range of animals. Merial employs 6,500 people and
operates in more than 150 countries worldwide with over €2 billion of
sales in 2014. Merial is a Sanofi company. For more information, please
see www.merial.com.

Contacts

Merial
Amanda Evans, +33-607-953-408
or
Merial
Heidi
De Wit-Sommerfeld, +1-678-638-3763