Eurofarma partners with Bavarian Nordic to launch chikungunya vaccine in Brazil

Brazilian pharmaceutical company Eurofarma announced a partnership with Denmark's Bavarian Nordic to introduce a new single‑dose chikungunya vaccine, CHIKV VLP, to the Brazilian market. The firms filed a registration request with Brazil's health regulator Anvisa in June and await approval. The vaccine, marketed internationally as Vimkunya, has already been authorized for people aged 12 and older in the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Canada. If approved, it will become Brazil's second chikungunya vaccine, joining the Butantan‑Valneva attenuated vaccine approved in 2025. The VLP technology contains no replicating genetic material, allowing use across a broader age range, including adolescents and the elderly.

The launch comes amid a resurgence of chikungunya cases worldwide, with the World Health Organization reporting over 500,000 infections and 186 deaths in 2025, and Brazil accounting for nearly 130,000 cases and 120 deaths. Health agencies have warned of renewed transmission in Brazil's central‑west and south‑east regions, attributing the spread to the Aedes aegypti mosquito and climate‑related factors. The new vaccine aims to strengthen Brazil's public‑health response to the disease, which can cause chronic joint pain despite its low lethality.