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.
$GeoVax Labs (GOVX.US)$ shares surged 54% on Monday morning, with 278.6% of gains over the past five days, sparking a new rally among mpox treatment developers, following news that a trial of Siga Technologies's antiviral fell short of its primary objective.
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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.
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$Applied DNA Sciences (APDN.US)$, in September 2022, began offering monkeypox testing through its clinical reference laboratory, serving hospitals and labs in New York State and other states that accept New York's CLEP/CLIA certification. Shares of Applied DNA are up 117.5% over the past five days.
![Monkeypox Outbreak Drove Surge in These Company Shares](https://ussnsimg.moomoo.com/sns_client_feed/71445112/20240819/91fcd0b245e54959b09d32eb513c1371.jpg?area=100&is_public=true)
Meanwhile, $Emergent BioSolutions (EBS.US)$ shares recently rose 24% in five days. Emergent, the smallpox vaccine ACAM2000 maker, is seeking Food and Drug Administration approval to expand the indication to include immunization against the pox virus. In 2022, the company acquired the rights to a smallpox treatment called Tembexa, developed by Chimerix, for up to $337.5 million plus royalties.
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$Chimerix (CMRX.US)$, which still has a financial interest in certain Tembexa sales, had a 5-day price change of 24.4%.
In addition, $SIGA Technologies (SIGA.US)$ announced last Friday that a trial in the Democratic Republic of Congo testing its antiviral drug tecovirimat for treating mpox didn't achieve its main goal. The trial aimed to show a statistically significant improvement in healing skin lesions within 28 days after starting treatment, but it fell short.
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.
The WHO said it worked with countries and vaccine manufacturers to increase access for affected countries. The U.N. health agency said it has released $1.45 million in contingency funds and might need to release more in the coming days. It expects an initial funding requirement of $15 million to be needed for its response plan.
"The cost and availability of vaccine is going to be a great challenge," said Jimmy Whitworth, Emeritus professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, adding that an estimated 10 million vaccine doses would be required to deal with the outbreak.
Note: The stock is currently overbought, which may lead to a price correction or increased volatility. Investors should be cautious and consider this risk before making any investment decisions.
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