Mpox-linked stocks extend rally into second week
19/08/2024 13:57
Aug 19 (Reuters) - Shares of some mpox vaccine and drug
developers jumped sharply on Monday in premarket trading,
putting them on track to extend gains from last week as concerns
over an outbreak of the virus rise.
Shares of GeoVax Labs GOVX.O and Tonix Pharmaceuticals
TNXP.O led the gains. Both the companies, which have a
combined market capitalization of less than $50 million, do not
have any products on the market.
GeoVax's shares rose 47.9% to $10.44, while Tonix jumped 41%
to 63 cents.
Emergent BioSolutions' shares EBS.N rose 5.4% to $11.32
premarket. Its vaccine, approved for smallpox, has been used as
an mpox shot, but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is yet
to approve its application for use against the virus.
A new variant of mpox has spread rapidly in Africa,
prompting the World Health Organization to declare mpox a global
public health emergency last Wednesday.
Europe's disease prevention agency said on Friday more
imported cases will appear in the region, a day after Sweden
reported its first case of mpox linked to the new strain.
Danish-listed shares of Bavarian Nordic BAVA.CO , which
makes an mpox vaccine, were down 4.1% at 271.80 Danish crowns
($40.22). They had jumped 20% on Friday, and rose 50% last week
on growing concerns over the virus.
Siga Technologies' shares SIGA.O were up 1.3%. The stock
fell nearly 20% on Thursday after the company's mpox drug failed
to meet the main goal in a study.
($1 = 6.7584 Danish crowns)
(Reporting by Puyaan Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini
Ganguli)
((Puyaan.Singh@thomsonreuters.com;))