The European Commission (EC) has authorised the marketing of Bavarian Nordic’s Vimkunya – the first chikungunya vaccine approved in Europe for individuals as young as 12 years old.
Vimkunya is a virus-like particle (VLP) single-dose vaccine tailored for active immunisation to prevent disease caused by the chikungunya virus.
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The authorisation is valid in all European Union member states and also in Liechtenstein, Norway and Iceland.
The announcement follows US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in February 2025.
A marketing authorisation application was submitted by the company to the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, with UK approval anticipated in the first half of 2025.
Bavarian Nordic CEO and president Paul Chaplin said: “We are highly encouraged by the European Commission’s accelerated decision to approve our chikungunya vaccine in Europe, which offers a differentiated profile for travellers, including those as young as 12 years.
“As we expand our presence across Europe, this vaccine will help to further consolidate our leading position in travel vaccines, and we look forward to making the vaccine available in key markets during the first half of 2025.”
The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommended the vaccine in January 2025, based on two Phase III clinical trial outcomes.
These trials enrolled 3,500 healthy participants aged 12 and above. It demonstrated that the vaccine induced neutralising antibodies in up to 97.8% of vaccinated people within 21 days post-vaccination and showed a quick immune response from the first week.
The vaccine’s mechanism of action involves inducing neutralising antibodies against chikungunya virus proteins, potentially offering protection from infection.
In December 2024, the company signed a licence and manufacturing agreement with the Serum Institute of India for MVA-BN.
