PARIS (Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)has ended an encephalitis vaccine supply contract with Valneva, the French drugmaker said on Thursday, saying that a slowdown in global travel activity, mainly affecting Asia, had led to lower demand.
Valneva’s Japanese encephalitis vaccine Ixiaro is indicated for active immunization for the prevention of the disease for people who travel to, or live in, endemic areas.
“The DoD has communicated an interest in negotiating a new supply contract in 2023, once inventory returns to standard levels,” Valneva said, adding that the total minimum value of the existing supply contract was approximately $118 million.
(Reporting by Tassilo Hummel; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)
