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Valneva Announces Lifting of European Medicines Agency’s Temporary Restriction on Use of Chikungunya Vaccine IXCHIQ® in Elderly

Company Overview - Valneva SE is a specialty vaccine company focused on developing, manufacturing, and commercializing prophylactic vaccines for infectious diseases, addressing unmet medical needs [6] - The company has advanced multiple vaccines from early R&D to approvals and currently markets three proprietary travel vaccines [7] - Revenues from its growing commercial business support the advancement of its vaccine pipeline, which includes candidates for Lyme disease, Shigella, Zika virus, and other public health threats [8] Industry Context - The chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a mosquito-borne disease that has been identified in over 110 countries, with significant outbreaks reported since 2004 [5] - Between 2013 and 2023, more than 3.7 million chikungunya cases were reported in the Americas, indicating a substantial medical and economic burden [5] - The World Health Organization (WHO) has recognized chikungunya as a major public health problem, with the impact expected to grow due to climate change [5] Regulatory Update - The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has lifted the temporary restriction on vaccinating individuals aged 65 and above with Valneva's chikungunya vaccine IXCHIQ after a thorough safety review [1][2] - The EMA concluded that IXCHIQ should be administered when there is a significant risk of chikungunya infection, considering the benefits and risks for all age groups [2][3] - IXCHIQ was authorized in the European Union in June 2024, with a label extension granted in March 2025 for adolescents aged 12 and older [3]