Valneva Announces Lifting of European Medicines Agency’s Temporary Restriction on Use of Chikungunya Vaccine IXCHIQ® in Elderly
Valneva SE (Nasdaq: VALN; Euronext Paris: VLA), a specialty vaccine company, today announced that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) will lift the temporary restriction on vaccinating people aged 65 years and above after concluding a thorough review of Valneva’s single-dose chikungunya vaccine IXCHIQ® by EMA’s safety committee (PRAC).
The committee initiated its review at the beginning of May following the occurrence of serious side effects mainly in elderly people with several underlying medical conditions. In a press release published today on its website , EMA underlined that the vaccine is already contraindicated for people with a weakened immune system and concluded that, for people of all ages, IXCHIQ® should be given when there is a significant risk of chikungunya infection and after a careful consideration of the benefits and risks.
Additionally, EMA noted that while most serious side effects occurred in older people, IXCHIQ® is effective at triggering the production of antibodies against the chikungunya virus which may be of particular benefit for older people who are at increased risk of severe chikungunya disease.
IXCHIQ® was authorised in the European Union in June 2024 and, in March 2025, the European Commission granted a label extension in adolescents 12 years of age and older.
About Chikungunya
Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a mosquito-borne viral disease spread by the bites of infected Aedes mosquitoes which causes fever, severe joint and muscle pain, headache, nausea, fatigue and rash. Joint pain is often debilitating and can persist for weeks to years . In 2004, the disease began to spread quickly, causing large-scale outbreaks around the world. Since the re-emergence of the virus, CHIKV has now been identified in over 110 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas . Between 2013 and 2023, more than 3.7 million cases were reported in the Americas and the economic impact is considered to be significant. The medical and economic burden is expected to grow with climate change as the mosquito vectors that transmit the disease continue to spread geographically. As such, the World Health Organization (WHO) has highlighted chikungunya as a major public health problem.
Contact
Laetitia Bachelot-Fontaine
VP Global Communications & European Investor Relations
M +33 (0)6 4516 7099
laetitia.bachelot-fontaine@valneva.com
Joshua Drumm, Ph.D.
VP Global Investor Relations
M +001 917 815 4520
joshua.drumm@valneva.com