Chikungunya Treatment Market Trends

Growth Drivers

• Healthcare quality improvement initiatives: As per the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the early-stage intervention in using chikungunya treatment protocols, including NSAIDs and antivirals, has minimized the hospitalization rates. The economic cost of chikungunya treatment over the past decade was approximately USD 49.9 billion, based on the Medical News Life Sciences report in December 2024. This study also aided the inclusion of chikungunya treatment in national quality improvement frameworks, particularly for outpatient care of post-viral arthritis.

• Rising government & Medicare spending on Chikungunya Drugs: Chikungunya treatments are symptomatic and off-label; the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services started the reimbursements for NSAIDs in 2023 under outbreak-linked care categories. Meanwhile, Medicare has allocated USD 2,000 for annual out of pocket costs including high treatment cost that currently run many times higher, as per the Whitehouse report in 2025. Personal out-of-pocket costs for per case was USD 2,700, and Brazil holds the largest share of USD 9.8 billion, based on the Medical News Life Sciences report in December 2024.

• Companies R&D innovations and strategies: Chikungunya research is highly focused on antiviral repurposing and vaccine innovation. The WHO R&D Blueprint has identified chikungunya as a priority pathogen, surging the partnerships between pharmaceutical firms and public health agencies for candidate development. In the U.S., the NIH reports that more than 70 active or completed chikungunya-related clinical studies are registered on ClinicalTrials.gov, including evaluations of repurposed antivirals such as Favipiravir and Ribavirin.

Historical Patient Growth on Chikungunya Cases from 2014 to 2024

Source: CDC, August 2025

Challenges

• Pricing restraints in regulated markets: Governments have imposed pricing caps to limit manufacturers margins in many countries, including Germany and France. Moreover, companies in Europe have overcome high pricing constraints by joining with national health agencies to boost market access and bundle chikungunya treatment with vector disease protocols. This strategy has made many companies to move on with broader reimbursement with existing budgets on healthcare. Furthermore, incorporation with national emergency response stocks resulted in long-term purchase contracts until 2030.