Valneva, a specialty vaccine company, today announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has adopted a positive opinion recommending authorization of Valneva’s single-dose vaccine for the prevention of disease caused by the chikungunya virus in individuals 18 years of age and older.
The European Commission (EC) will review the CHMP recommendation, and a decision on the marketing authorization application of IXCHIQ in the European Union (EU), Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland is expected in the third quarter of 2024.
If approved, it will become the first chikungunya vaccine available in Europe to address this unmet medical need. In accordance with the International Reliance Procedure (IRP), Valneva is also preparing a Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) for submission to the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
The CHMP opinion follows the November 2023 approval of IXCHIQ by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Two additional marketing authorization applications are currently under review by Health Canada and the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency (ANVISA) with potential approvals in 2024.
Juan Carlos Jaramillo, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of Valneva, commented, “This positive CHMP opinion marks a crucial milestone toward introducing a preventative solution against chikungunya in the EU. In recent years, climate change has caused the Aedes mosquito, a known carrier of chikungunya and dengue viruses, to spread to areas in Europe that were previously unaffected. It is critical to provide a vaccine solution not only to European travelers going to endemic chikungunya areas, such as South America or Africa, but also to the local European populations experiencing invasive mosquito attacks. The broader we can make this vaccine accessible, the better we will mitigate the burden of this debilitating illness, and we would like to thank our partner, CEPI, for supporting us in this endeavor.”
Dr. Richard Hatchett, Chief Executive Officer of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), commented, “Over one billion people live in areas where Chikungunya is endemic, and recent large outbreaks underline the urgent need for safe and effective vaccines against this debilitating disease. Valneva’s single-dose vaccine is well-suited for use in outbreak response and in low-resource settings, and CEPI’s partnership with Valneva and Instituto Butantan – supported by the EU – will help to make this vaccine accessible to the people most affected by the virus in low- and middle-income countries. Today’s positive opinion from the EMA is an important step towards making the vaccine more widely available.”
The positive CHMP opinion is supported by data from the pivotal Phase 3 study which were published in The Lancet, the world’s leading peer-reviewed medical journal, and showed a 98.9% seroresponse rate at 28 days with a single vaccination. This robust immune response was sustained for 24 months by 97% of participants and was equally durable in younger and older adults.
Earlier this month, Valneva reported further positive pivotal data in adolescents six months after a single vaccination, which are intended to support filing for potential label extension for use in adolescents aged 12 to 17 years. The data are also expected to support licensure of IXCHIQ in Brazil, which would be the first potential approval for use in an endemic population.
