Monkeypox Outbreak Drove Surge in These Company Shares

As health authorities worldwide work to contain the monkeypox outbreak, investors quickly buy shares in companies that might profit from efforts to control the disease.

Investors are buying up shares of vaccine producers, antiviral drug makers, and protective equipment companies, hoping to profit as they did during the coronavirus pandemic.

Bavarian Nordic, the only producer approved of the pox vaccine, saw its shares jump 16.5% on the day in Copenhagen. This comes after a 13% rise the previous day, following the company's assurance that it can meet the increasing demand for the vaccine.

Analysts are responding, with Citigroup boosting its target price for the company's shares by 20% and indicating there could be further growth if more orders are placed.

Traders are also showing interest in shares of other companies producing vaccines or antivirals for monkeypox.

In December, GeoVax said it amended a Covid-related license agreement with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, expanding its commercial license to include mpox and smallpox as additional indications.

The data, released by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, showed that patients were randomly given either tecovirimat with standard care or a placebo with standard care for 14 days.

Although the trial didn't meet its primary objective, there was a notable improvement in patients who started treatment within seven days of their symptoms appearing and in those with severe cases, defined by the World Health Organization as having 100 or more skin lesions.

"These data showing maximum benefit in patients treated early and with severe disease are entirely consistent with the mechanism of action of tecovirimat and with the studies in animals that led to U.S. FDA approval of this medicine for smallpox, a virus closely related to monkeypox virus, but which produces much more severe illness," Dennis Hruby, chief scientific officer at Siga, said in prepared remarks.

Brian Ferguson, associate professor of immunology at the University of Cambridge, worries about the new outbreak, especially since more children are getting sick. He said we need better access to vaccines because there aren't enough, and they aren't reaching the people who need them.