On Monday, French company Valneva presented promising data from a phase III trial of its vaccine against the chikungunya virus in adolescents.

The preliminary data shows that there are no risks associated with the vaccine in adolescents between 12 and 17 years of age — even if they have been infected by the virus before. This is in line with data from the company’s trials in adult patients.

”Chikungunya is a major threat to people traveling to or living in areas with the chikungunya virus, so our goal is to make this vaccine available to all age groups. Especially since there is no vaccine or specific treatment currently available for this debilitating disease,” says Juan Carlos Jaramillo, chief medical officer at Valneva.

Bavarian Nordic is also currently working on a vaccine against the virus. The disease, which is transmitted to humans via mosquito bites, has emerged in several regions in Asia, Africa, Southern Europe, and the Americas over the past 20 years. It often causes severe joint pain in addition to fever. In addition, almost half of people with chikungunya develop debilitating long-term symptoms.

(Translated using DeepL with additional editing by Christian Radich Hoffman)