Paris (Agefi-Dow Jones)-Action Valneva fell 2.8% Thursday, at 2.85 euros, after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) suspended the use of the IXCHIQ vaccine, intended to prevent the disease caused by the chikungunya virus, for people over the age of 65.
“As a temporary measure, EMA has suspended the use of the vaccine for people over the age of 65 for the duration of this review,” Valneva said in a statement sent on Wednesday.
The EMA made this decision after starting a review of the living vaccine attenuated against chikungunya based on serious undesirable effects in the elderly. Meeting on Monday, the Committee for the Risk Assessment of Pharmacovigilance (PRAC) of the EMA is based on 17 cases of serious adverse effects (including two dead) in the elderly with significant underlying medical conditions and/or already receiving various medical treatments.
The EMA also stressed that the exact cause of these serious side effects and their relationship with the vaccine had not yet been determined. The authority reminds health professionals that IXCHIQ should not be administered to people whose immune system is weakened due to a medical disease or treatment.
For its part, Valneva “continues to estimate that the benefit/risk ratio of the vaccine is positive for the vast majority of people potentially exposed to the disease,” added the company. To date, more than 40,000 doses of the IXCHIQ vaccine have been used worldwide.
-Dimitri Delmond, AGEFI-Dow Jones, [email protected], ED: JDO
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May 08, 2025 09:07 ET (13:07 GMT)
