Bavarian Nordic A/S announced that it has initiated the rolling submission process with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a Biologics License Application (BLA) for the licensure of its CHIKV VLP vaccine candidate for immunization against chikungunya virus infection in individuals 12 years of age and older. Bavarian Nordic will submit additional data over the coming months, aiming to complete the BLA submission before the end of the first half of 2024 to support a potential FDA approval of the vaccine in the first half of 2025. The CHIKV VLP vaccine candidate received Breakthrough Therapy designation and Fast Track designation from the FDA in October 2020 and April 2018, respectively, and PRIME designation from the EMA in September 2019.

These designations are designed to facilitate the development or expedite review of medicines that either target an unmet medical need or may demonstrate substantial improvement over available therapy. In February 2024, the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) under EMA granted accelerated assessment for the MAA for the CHIKV VLP vaccine candidate, which Bavarian Nordic plans to submit by mid-2024.