Vaccine Partners Turn Into Rivals with the First Shot as the Virus Progresses

Article content

(Bloomberg) — Two European partners will soon vie for dominance in a new battlefield: vaccines to protect travelers from a painful viral disease spread by mosquitoes.

Late last year, Valneva SE became the first company to receive approval to sell a vaccine against chikungunya, a disease that can cause fever and severe joint pain. Bayerische Nordic A/S is several months behind schedule, awaiting approval in the European Union and beginning to file an application in the United States.

Article content

Article content

The companies have been marketing and distributing each other’s products since 2020, a collaboration that is set to end next year – just as the two begin to compete to develop a new market for their rival chikungunya shots.

Valneva’s lead will undoubtedly lead to “a significantly larger market share,” said CEO Thomas Lingelbach.

His colleague at Bavarian Nordic, however, neglects the importance of timing alone. “Given that this is a new disease area in terms of travel health, I don’t think being first is a big advantage for Valneva,” CEO Paul Chaplin said in an interview.

The companies are competing for a market estimated to exceed $500 million a year by 2032. According to Valneva, the value could be higher with potential government stockpiles. The biotech company recently estimated that the travel market opportunity alone could be worth up to 400 million euros ($431 million).

“It is new territory, so one can only guess how quickly this new travel vaccine will be rolled out,” Suzanne van Voorthuizen, an analyst at Van Lanschot Kempen, wrote in an email. She has a buy rating on both stocks.

Article content

Article content

The virus, originally identified in the tropics, has been found in more than a hundred countries, including Italy. With temperatures rising around the world – last year was the hottest year on record – mosquitoes that carry chikungunya and other viruses could become more common in Europe, endangering millions more people.

competitive advantages

Danish company Bavarian Nordic expects to start selling its meal next year. Valnevas has already been administered to more than two hundred people in the United States. The French company is also awaiting regulatory decisions in Europe, Canada and Brazil, the hardest-hit country in the Americas.

According to Lingelbach, there are advantages for the competitive situation. The companies’ efforts will help raise awareness of the disease, “which is the key issue for something you’re doing in a completely new indication,” he said in an interview.

Chikungunya is usually transmitted by the same two species of mosquitoes that can transmit dengue fever. Most patients recover completely, but some develop arthritis, with pain lasting for years. Researchers from the Department of Genetics at the University of Cambridge argue that the risk of death from the virus has been underestimated.

Article content

“It’s a devastating disease,” said Bavarian Nordic’s Chaplin.

If there is an outbreak, the virus can spread quickly. A third of the entire population on Reunion Island was affected by an outbreak about two decades ago, according to a presentation at Bavarian Nordic’s Capital Markets Day in London earlier this year. Meanwhile, the international vaccine alliance Gavi points out that just four Latin American countries – Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay – accounted for the majority of cases last year.

Analysts said Valneva’s vaccine appears to be more durable but may also cause more side effects than Bavarian Nordic’s, which works faster in late-stage trials, making it practical for travelers. The French company says the side effects are due to the nature of the vaccine, which uses a live form of the virus. Bavarian Nordic’s shot is now easier to administer because it doesn’t need to be mixed with water.

While travelers are the first target of the new vaccinations, the products could be crucial for people living in countries where chikungunya is endemic. Bavarian Nordic’s Chaplin said the company is in talks with potential partners in those regions to sell and distribute its shot. The ultimate goal is to produce the vaccine locally.

Article content

“We will rely on partners who are active in these areas,” said Chaplin. “This is the most efficient way to provide access to these endemic areas.”

Valneva is ahead here. The company received funding from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations for its vaccine, called Ixchiq, and has partnered with Brazil’s Instituto Butantan, which produces immunobiology products and vaccines in the country.

When asked about the ethics of selling the vaccine to U.S. travelers in front of the affected local population, Valneva’s Lingelbach pointed to the “significant level of disease awareness” in the U.S. as well as the economic benefit of seeking regulatory approval there results. The company received a priority review voucher from the Food and Drug Administration, which it sold in February for $103 million, giving it money back for research and development.

Lingelbach also noted the need for “experienced and very well-developed regulators” to evaluate vaccines against new diseases.

“An investment in a new vaccine costs hundreds of millions of dollars, sometimes even more,” Lingelbach said. “Without the prospect of higher-priced markets footing some of the bill, it will never be possible to roll out the vaccine.”

– With support from Eamon Akil Farhat.

Article content