Chikungunya Vaccine Candidate Induces Strong Immune Response

TUESDAY, June 13, 2023 (HealthDay News) — The live attenuated vaccine candidate for active immunization and prevention of disease caused by chikungunya virus, VLA1553, induces a strong immune response and seroprotective titers in almost all vaccinated persons, according to a study published online June 12 in The Lancet.

Martina Schneider, Ph.D., from Valneva Austria in Vienna, and colleagues conducted a randomized, phase 3 trial involving healthy volunteers aged 18 years and older to examine safety and immunogenicity data up to day 180 after vaccination with VLA1553. Participants were randomly assigned to receive VLA1553 or placebo in a 3:1 ratio (3,093 and 1,035 participants, respectively). The per-protocol population for immunogenicity analysis included 362 participants: 266 and 96 in the VLA1553 and placebo groups, respectively.

The researchers found that VLA1553 induced seroprotective chikungunya virus neutralizing antibody levels in 98.9 percent of the VLA1553 group at 28 days after a single vaccination, independent of age. VLA1553 was generally safe; the adverse event profile was similar to other licensed vaccines and was tolerated equally well in younger and older adults. Overall, 1.5 and 0.8 percent exposed to VLA1553 and placebo, respectively, reported serious adverse events. Only two serious adverse events were considered related to VLA1553 treatment; both participants recovered fully.

“The generation of protective titers in virtually all vaccinated participants independent of age positions VLA1553 as an excellent candidate for the prevention of chikungunya,” the authors write.

Several authors disclosed ties to Valneva, which developed VLA1553 and funded the study.

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