MHRA withdraws UK authorisation for IXCHIQ chikungunya vaccine after safety review
Published · Updated
What happened
The MHRA published a Drug Safety Update stating that the UK marketing authorisation for the IXCHIQ chikungunya vaccine has been withdrawn after a safety review and advice from the Commission on Human Medicines.
Why it matters
The withdrawal removes a licensed chikungunya vaccine option from the UK market and requires changes to travel-medicine advice, prescribing information, and clinical communications. It also creates a near-term communications task because a product-specific safety action can affect public confidence in vaccination beyond the product itself.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency said in a Drug Safety Update published on 26 October that the UK marketing authorisation for the IXCHIQ chikungunya vaccine has been withdrawn. The action followed a safety review and advice from the Commission on Human Medicines. For UK health-security officials, the immediate tasks are updating travel-health guidance, aligning clinician communications, and containing any spillover into wider vaccine confidence.
Watch for
UK Health Security Agency update to chikungunya travel-health guidance on GOV.UK by 2026-10-30 MHRA publication of product-specific clinical advice or Q&A for prescribers on IXCHIQ by 2026-10-30 NHS England or relevant professional bodies issuance of clinician-facing alert on vaccine withdrawal and patient counselling by 2026-10-30 No new MHRA Drug Safety Update entry widening the action to other chikungunya products by 2026-10-30
Sources
- Drug Safety Update · gov.uk