Saint-Herblain (France), October 16, 2020 – Valneva SE (“Valneva” or “the Company”) a specialty vaccine company focused on prevention of diseases with major unmet needs, today announced that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has granted PRIority MEdicines (PRIME) designation for its single-shot Phase 3 chikungunya vaccine candidate VLA1553.
This new designation from the EMA complements the Fast Track designation received by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in December 2018.
The PRIME designation is awarded by the EMA to promising medicines that demonstrate the potential to address substantial unmet medical need based on initial clinical data. The EMA considers PRIME designations a priority and provides medicine developers with special support, including enhanced interactions and dialogue, as well as a pathway for accelerated evaluation and review.
Juan Carlos Jaramillo, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of Valneva, commented, “We are very pleased to receive PRIME designation for our chikungunya vaccine candidate. It provides further validation of our clinical data and recognition of the significant unmet medical need for chikungunya. We look forward to working closely with the EMA to expedite the availability of our single-shot vaccine to people living in the European Union.”
On September 8, 2020, Valneva announced the initiation of a pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial for VLA1553, becoming the first company worldwide to advance a chikungunya vaccine candidate into Phase 3.