Valneva Gears Up To Launch The First Ever Chikungunya Virus Vaccine

1. Ixchiq is a single shot live attenuated vaccine for the prevention of chikungunya virus vaccine which provided immunity to over 98% of participants in a phase 3 clinical trial.
2. The vaccine was well tolerated and had an overall adverse event profile similar to other vaccines currently on the market.

The Latest

A 2023 phase 3 double blind, randomized clinical trial funded by Valneva Austria investigated the safety and efficacy of the world’s first single shot live attenuated chikungunya vaccine. The researchers found that this vaccine known as VLA1553, marketed as Ixchiq, was successful at providing optimally protective antibody levels against the chikungunya virus in over 98% of the participants in the treatment arm. Additionally, the Ixchiq only led to two serious adverse events, but was overall well tolerated by participants and had adverse events similar to other vaccines on the market. In a phase 1 randomized clinical trial, Valneva previously demonstrated the safety of the Ixchiq vaccine. The safety of Ixchiq demonstrated in the phase 3 trial was consistent with what was seen in the phase 1 trial.

Physician’s Perspective

Chikungunya is a viral illness typically spread through mosquito bites. The pathogen responsible for the disease is called the chikungunya virus. While the disease is typically seen in tropical and subtropical countries, due to increasing travel the virus has been identified in many other countries not typically known to have chikungunya. The disease has no predictable patterns of outbreak. Five million cases of the disease were identified over the last 15 years. Symptoms of the disease commonly include fever, malaise, and joint pain among others. The treatment for the disease is generally supportive and the prognosis is excellent with individuals recovering within a week. Prevention strategies have thus far only included protection against the vector by using mosquito repellant. This is exactly why Valneva’s novel Ixchiq vaccine provides exciting hope in the prevention of this disease.

Molecular Target of Therapy

Ixchiq is a live attenuated viral vaccine. The vaccine was developed based on a strain of chikungunya virus found in South Africa called La Reunion. Through genetic engineering a 60 amino acid sequence was deleted from a gene responsible for the production of an essential protein involved in replication of the virus. Live attenuated vaccines work by introducing a weakened form of the virus to the patient’s immune system. The body then mounts a cellular as well as a humoral immune response. The cellular immune response is achieved by T cells recognizing pathogenic agents as foreign to the body and mounting a response to eliminate the pathogen. The humoral response on the other hand provides long term memory of the pathogen to the immune system by the development of antibodies against the pathogen. This allows the body to recognize and mount a response to any subsequent infection.

Company History

Ixchiq was developed by Valneva a biotech company that specializes in the development of vaccines. Aside from Ixchiq, Valneva has two other successful vaccines on the market: IXIARO used in the prevention of japanese encephalitis, and Dukoral for the prevention of cholera. Valneva is presently in the process of developing two new vaccines: VLA15, a vaccine for Lyme disease, and VLA1601 a vaccine for zika virus.

Further reading: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(23)00641-4

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