By Maitane Sardon

Shares in Valneva rose after the French biotech company reported positive final data from a mid-stage study of a Lyme disease vaccine candidate it is developing with Pfizer.

Valneva said that antibody levels remained well above baseline across all six Lyme disease serotypes and all age groups in the trial. This was six months after participants received the third yearly booster dose of the vaccine candidate under development, called VLA15.

The safety profile remained favourable, with no concerns identified by the independent Data Monitoring Committee, Valneva said.

Shares were up 5% at 3.98 euros in European morning trade.

The findings confirm the benefits of a yearly vaccination prior to each Lyme season, Valneva said. Lyme disease is a bacterial infection that can be spread to humans by infected ticks. Early symptoms include a rash, fatigue, muscle and joint pain, headache and fever, but can often be overlooked or misinterpreted.

There are no approved human vaccines for Lyme disease, and VLA15 is the furthest-advanced vaccine in development, Stifel analysts said in a research note. Based on the recent data, there is a high probability of success for the late-stage trial, they said.

"We view the phase 3 readout expected in the first half of 2026 as one of the most compelling risk/reward catalysts in the European biotech space over the next six months," the analysts added.

Write to Maitane Sardon at maitane.sardon@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 26, 2025 06:01 ET (11:01 GMT)

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