(Reuters) -Shares in Valneva slumped around 25% on Monday after the French drugmaker said the United States Food and Drug Administration had suspended the licence for its chikungunya vaccine Ixchiq with immediate effect.
Valneva said the suspension follows four reports of serious adverse events consistent with the disease, and that it will have to immediately stop shipping and selling the vaccine in the U.S.
The company said it was evaluating the potential impact of permanently withdrawing the vaccine from the U.S. but would not change its financial outlook.
It said sales of Ixchiq accounted for 7.5 million euros ($8.78 million) in the first half of this year, or more than 8% of its total product sales.
Despite seeing the suspension as a setback, brokerage Kempen Daily said in a note that it views Ixchiq as only a minor reason to invest in Valneva.
“We see a negative share price reaction today as an attractive entry point,” the brokerage added.
Chikungunya can cause high fever, joint pain and long-term disability and is spread primarily by the Aedes mosquito species, including the “tiger mosquito” which also transmits dengue.
Ixchiq, the first preventive vaccine for chikungunya, which was also approved in Europe, uses a weakened form of the virus to stimulate an immune response.
($1 = 0.8538 euros)
(Reporting by Alessandro Parodi in Gdansk, editing by Matt Scuffham, Kirsten Donovan)
