French pharma giant Sanofi announced on Tuesday that the world's first vaccine against dengue may hit the medical stores by the second half of 2015.

Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccine unit of the company, is set to soon file for registration of its vaccine candidate and after receiving the regulatory approval the first dengue vaccine could be available by the second half of 2015.

The company said in a statement that the results of the last stage of the clinical study showed that 95.5 per cent protection has been provided by the vaccine against severe dengue and an 80.3 per cent reduction in the risk of hospitalization.

Sanofi said that it is necessary to tackle dengue as it affects lakhs of people every year in India.

"We plan to submit the vaccine for licences in 2015 in endemic countries where dengue is a public health priority," Sanofi Pasteur President and CEO Olivier Charmeil said.

Country Head, Sanofi Pasteur, Stephan Barth, called dengue a serious health concern in India.

"Over recent months we have seen a worrying increase in cases in many parts of the country, putting a huge strain on healthcare systems. India is part of Sanofi Pasteur's global development strategy for dengue vaccine. Results of CYD 15 are very encouraging and in line with the results of the phase III study results in Asia and the Phase II study results in India," he said.