Shares of vaccine maker Mpox surge after WHO declares state of emergency over deadly outbreak in Africa
Top line
Shares of vaccine makers like Bavarian Nordic soared Thursday after the World Health Organization declared a public health emergency over a growing outbreak of the disease in Africa, as nations scramble to mobilize resources to contain the outbreak amid fears the deadly virus could spark another deadly pandemic.
Mpox vaccine stocks increased after WHO declared a health emergency.
Key facts
Shares in Danish company Bavarian Nordic jumped as much as 17% in early trading in Copenhagen on Thursday, although gains fell to around 11% in later trading.
The rally extends a roughly 12% gain from the previous day, when the WHO joined Africa’s top public health body in declaring a growing outbreak of mpox a public health emergency.
Bavarian Nordic is one of the only companies in the world with an approved mpox vaccine and in practice it is the only company because the vaccine it manufactures is by far the preferred choice of global health authorities due to the much lower risks of negative outcomes associated with it.
Bavarian Nordic sells the vaccine under three brands globally – Jynneos, Imvamune and Imvanex – and the company’s U.S.-listed shares were up nearly a third (33%) in pre-market trading early Thursday morning.
Shares of Maryland-based Emergent BioSolutions, which acquired French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi’s ACAM2000 smallpox vaccine in 2017 — smallpox is related to MPOX and the vaccine is supposed to protect against it as well — were up nearly 12% by market close Wednesday, though shares fell more than 3.5% in premarket trading Thursday.
Tonix Pharmaceuticals, a U.S. company that has an experimental vaccine in early-stage trials against horsepox with the potential for later applications against smallpox and mpox, also fell 3.6% in premarket trading, paring the previous day’s 2.7% gain.
What treatments are there for Mpox?
There are few specific treatments approved for MPOX and many have not been thoroughly tested on the disease given the lack of cases. Those approved for smallpox, which was eradicated in 1980, have even less data, although the similarities between the two viruses mean that therapies that work for one are likely to have at least some impact on the other. While they cannot prevent infection, the therapies can help save patients, reduce symptoms and disease progression, and potentially reduce the risk of further transmission. The antiviral drug tecovirimat was approved for use against smallpox based on animal testing, and while it is not approved to treat patients with COPD in the United States, the drug was made available for that purpose under emergency protocols during the 2022 outbreak. The drug, marketed as Tpoxx by Siga Technologies, is still being tested for approval specifically for COPD. Shares of Siga were up nearly 27% at the close of trading Wednesday and more than 1% in premarket trading Thursday.
Peg News
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared a public health emergency of international concern on Wednesday, shortly after a similar decision by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the continent’s top public health agency. The disease, formerly known as monkeypox, is spread mainly through close contact with infected people, animals or contaminated materials such as towels and typically causes a mild illness with symptoms including fever, swollen lymph nodes and a characteristic pus-filled rash. The virus can and does kill, however, and young children, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems are particularly at risk. Africa CDC officials say there have been more than 17,000 suspected cases so far this year and more than 500 deaths. The virus variant causing the outbreak is a different form of the mpox variant responsible for the 2022 global outbreak, when new methods of transmission – including sexual contact – helped the virus spread globally, particularly through networks of gay and bisexual men, and data suggest it has a much higher mortality rate than that variant (around 10% compared to less than 1%). The virus has historically been relatively confined to parts of central Africa, particularly the Democratic Republic of Congo, with sporadic outbreaks largely linked to exposure to animals. The current outbreak suggests the virus has mutated and is now much more capable of spreading between humans, greatly increasing the risk of a major outbreak. The Africa CDC said at least 13 African countries have now reported cases in recent months, including four that have never reported infections of this type of virus before, although most cases are still being reported in the DRC.
Large number
300,000. That’s the number of doses of its mpox vaccine that Bavarian Nordic said it was ready to ship immediately. The company, alongside the European Commission, has reportedly already donated more than 215,000 doses. CEO Paul Chaplin told media that the company could supply a total of 2 million doses to Africa by the end of the year and another 8 million in 2025.
What should you pay attention to?
While ready to ramp up their efforts, Chaplin said countries will need to move quickly to secure doses. “We’re already at the end of August, so there really needs to be some speed in decision-making to be able to do this,” he told Bloomberg. While Africa CDC officials have made clear that vaccination will be a key part of their strategy to control the outbreak, vaccines are expensive, especially by local standards, and it’s unclear where the money will come from to buy the doses needed. Director General Jean Kaseya said the vaccines cost about $100 a dose. That’s about one-sixth of the DRC’s per capita GDP of about $650.
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