FDA Adjusts Valneva’s Chikungunya Vaccine Label, Lifts Pause In Older Adults

Fierce Pharma (8/7, Liu) reports that the FDA “has removed a pause in the use of Valneva’s chikungunya vaccine,” Ixchiq, for older adults and updated the label with stricter language. The FDA and CDC “recommended suspending administration of the shot...individuals age 60 and older back in May after post-marketing reports of some serious adverse events, including at least two deaths, in recipients of the vaccine who were between the ages of 62 and 89.” The vaccine is now recommended for those at “high risk” of exposure, with new warnings about serious adverse events, stating “that Ixchiq is ‘not advisable’ for most U.S. residents traveling abroad because the risk of exposure to chikungunya is low.”