Valneva has received a contract from the US Department of Defense (DoD) for the delivery of its Japanese encephalitis (JE) vaccine, IXIARO.

The company will supply a minimum of $32m worth of IXIARO vaccines as part of the new one-year contract.

DoD can also purchase additional doses during the next 12 months. Deliveries of the vaccines will begin immediately.

IXIARO is the only JE vaccine that has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Valneva developed the vaccine through a research and development agreement with the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.

The company is responsible for marketing and supplying this vaccine directly to the military and private travel market in the US.

Valneva chief commercial officer Dipal Patel stated: “We are excited to continue our long-term relationship with the DoD.

“The US military has trusted IXIARO for over ten years to help protect military personnel, their families, civilian government service personnel and government contractors from this potentially deadly disease.”

JE is an infectious disease endemic in South-East Asia, China and India. It has a fatality rate of around 30% in symptomatic patients and causes permanent brain damage in half of those who survive.

JE killed more than 1,200 children in one month during an epidemic outbreak in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and Nepal.