Valneva SE inked a $32 million contract with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) for the supply of its Japanese encephalitis (JE) vaccine, IXIARO.

The DoD will buy a minimum of $32 million worth of IXIARO vaccines with the possibility to purchase additional doses during the coming twelve months. Deliveries of the vaccine will commence immediately.

According to the company, IXIARO is the only JE vaccine approved by the U.S. FDA, having been developed through a cooperative research and development agreement with the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. In the U.S., Valneva markets and distributes IXIARO directly to the military and private travel market.

Dipal Patel, chief commercial officer of Valneva said, “We are excited to continue our long-term relationship with the DoD. The U.S. military has trusted IXIARO for over ten years to help protect military personnel, their families, civilian government service personnel, and government contractors from this potentially deadly disease.”