The world's first vaccine against mosquito-borne viral infection chikungunya is to be manufactured in Scotland . It comes after French biotech company Valneva announced that the European Commission (EC) has granted marketing authorization in Europe for its single-dose vaccine, IXCHIQ®, for the prevention of disease caused by the chikungunya virus in individuals 18 years of age and older. The approval was unanimously endorsed by Member States following a stringent assessment by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
The EC decision marks the third approval the specialty vaccine company has received for IXCHIQ® following approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in November 2023 and Health Canada last month.
Valneva said it expects to deliver the first doses in Europe in the fourth quarter of 2024. The company confirmed to The Herald that the vaccine will be manufactured at its site in Livingston. READ MORE: Glasgow tech firm signs major deal with Coca-Cola Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a mosquito-borne viral disease spread by the bites of infected Aedes mosquitoes which causes fever, severe joint pain, muscle pain, headache, nausea, fatigue and rash.
Joint pain is often debilitating and can persist for weeks to year. 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.
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