(Reuters) – French-Austrian biotech firm Valneva on Tuesday announced what it described as positive topline results from the lot-to-lot Phase 3 trial of its single-shot Chikungunya vaccine candidate, VLA1553, saying the trial met its primary endpoint.
“Three consecutively manufactured vaccine lots elicited equivalent immune responses,” the company said in a statement, adding that it would kick-off proceedings to win regulatory approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration next year.
Chikungunya is a viral disease transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes that causes fever as well as muscle and joint pain. There is currently no vaccine or specific drug against the virus.
The news was announced after the close of trading in Paris, where the company’s shares were down 4.2% on the day. In August, after Valneva gave a positive update on the phase 3 trial, its shares rose as much as 5% in early trading.
The lot-to-lot trial will continue towards a final six-month analysis with final trial results expected in the second quarter of 2022, the company said in a statement.
(This refile adds dropped word in 2nd paragraph)
(Reporting by Michal Aleksandrowicz; Editing by Tassilo Hummel and Paul Simao)
