Valneva’s chikungunya vaccine roll-out hit by French authorities

Shares of French speciality vaccines developer Valneva (Nasdaq: VAL) were down 8.4% at 2.89 euros by early afternoon, after it announced a negative decision by France’s national public health agency.

The Haute Autorité de Santé (HAS), has updated its recommendation for use of Valneva’s single-dose chikungunya vaccine Ixchiq for the prevention of disease caused by the chikungunya virus (CHIKV) following reports of serious adverse events (SAEs) in elderly people with comorbidities during the ongoing vaccination campaign in La Reunion and Mayotte. Valneva has been responding to the French government’s call for vaccine supply of Ixchiq in La Reunion1 as the island is going through a major chikungunya outbreak with ~ 40,000 confirmed cases since the beginning of 2025.

The news comes just four weeks after the European Commission (EC) granted marketing authorization in Europe for Valneva’s single-dose vaccine, Ixchiq, for the prevention of disease caused by the chikungunya virus in individuals 12 years of age and older.