Last Wednesday, the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, announced that the monkeypox epidemic once again constitutes an "international emergency of concern to public health", marking the second time since July 2022 that the WHO has issued such a highest-level alert.
Historically, the WHO has issued 7 such highest-level warnings, targeting the H1N1 influenza (swine flu), poliomyelitis (polio), two Ebola outbreaks, Zika, the COVID-19 virus, and the monkeypox epidemic two years ago.
Affected by this news, the stocks of pharmaceutical companies and related testing companies that produce and develop monkeypox vaccines have soared across the board. The most ferocious performance belongs to global monkeypox concept stocks such as $Applied DNA Sciences(APDN.US)$, whose stock price has surged by 278.6% in the past 5 trading days since the news broke.$GeoVax Labs (GOVX.US)$In addition, Applied DNA Sciences, whose stock symbol is APDN.US, has seen its stock price rise by over 100% in the past five trading days.$Applied DNA Sciences (APDN.US)$The stock price has risen more than doubled in the past 5 trading days.
In addition, this monkeypox outbreak is different from the past. The primary strain has gradually shifted from "branch II" to "branch I" and its mutant strains "branch Ib". This mutant strain not only triggered small-scale transmission in Central Africa, but also demonstrated the ability to spread efficiently among people through multiple routes such as sexual contact, further exacerbating the complexity of the epidemic.
According to information released on the WHO official website, anyone can be infected with monkeypox virus, and the transmission routes include:
1. Spread through skin contact, kissing, or sex;
2. Spread through hunting animals, skinning them, and cooking animals;
3. Spread through objects, such as contact with virus-contaminated bed linen, clothing, or needles;
4. Pregnant women may pass the virus to their unborn fetus.
The monkeypox epidemic is spreading globally! The stock prices of related companies have risen sharply.
Currently, the monkeypox epidemic situation continues to be severe, and the virus has the hidden danger of spreading globally starting from Africa.
On August 15 local time, the Acting Director of the Swedish Public Health Agency announced the first confirmed case of Ib type monkeypox infection outside the African continent. Subsequently, the Pakistan Ministry of Health reported the first confirmed monkeypox case in the country in 2024, and according to information from provincial health departments, at least three infections exist, but the strain type remains to be determined. In addition, the Philippine Department of Health also reported the first new case of monkeypox since December last year on Monday, highlighting once again the complexity and wide-ranging nature of the global monkeypox epidemic.
Currently, the monkeypox vaccine produced by the Danish biotechnology company Bavarian Nordic is the only vaccine approved worldwide for prevention and control of the virus. However, although the Africa CDC is actively negotiating with the company to obtain 0.2 million doses of the vaccine, the center previously estimated that in order to effectively curb the spread of the current monkeypox epidemic, approximately 10 million doses of vaccine are actually needed, highlighting the severe situation the world faces in responding to such public health challenges.
In addition, multiple companies around the world that are developing vaccines and test reagents to combat monkeypox virus are competing to develop new types of vaccines and test reagents. The goal is to improve the safety and accessibility of the vaccine, as well as the accuracy and speed in identifying potential virus patients.
1. Among them, the biotechnology company that is deeply involved in the clinical stage, GeoVax, is dedicated to developing innovative immunotherapies and vaccines in the fields of cancer and infectious diseases. Its recent positive results on its vaccine to prevent monkeypox were published in a peer-reviewed journal. This breakthrough progress quickly ignited the market enthusiasm, driving GeoVax's share price soaring in the past week.$GeoVax Labs (GOVX.US)$As a company dedicated to developing immunotherapy and vaccine innovations in the fields of cancer and infectious diseases, its recent disclosure of positive results in preventing monkeypox with its vaccine in an authoritative peer-reviewed journal has rapidly spurred market enthusiasm, driving up the GeoVax stock price in the past week.
As of the time of publication, GOVX has risen by more than 50% before the opening, and the stock price has doubled in the last trading day.
In August 2022, the PCR DNA technology testing company. $Applied DNA Sciences (APDN.US)$Announced that its wholly-owned clinical laboratory subsidiary ADCL has submitted the monkeypox virus testing reagent to the New York State Department of Health, aiming to identify the Clade II variant for comprehensive approval as a testing developed by NYSDOH laboratory. For the latest variant strains, the company will quickly respond and launch a new testing reagent.
Dr. James A. Hayward, President and CEO of the company, said that this monkeypox testing reagent pursues a combination of fast approval channels and efficient testing capabilities, aiming to curb the spread of the virus, protect the safety of New Yorkers, and emphasizing the company's comprehensive control over the supply chain as a manufacturer to ensure quality and availability.
As of the article, APDN rose more than 100% before the market, with a rise of nearly 80% on the previous trading day.
Virax Biolabs(VRAX.US), a company focused on the prevention, testing and diagnosis of viral diseases. $Virax Biolabs (VRAX.US)$Announced last September that its monkeypox virus antigen rapid test kit has officially entered the CE mark approval market, such as the European Union region. The company's stock price skyrocketed 83.6% last week.
This reagent kit designed for care points can quickly confirm the virus status of suspected monkeypox patients within 15 minutes, and is suitable for preliminary screening of monkeypox-exposed individuals and high-risk environment contacts.
James Foster, Chairman and CEO of Virax Biolabs, expressed his great pride in this: "We responded quickly to the global monkeypox epidemic challenge and successfully launched this rapid antigen testing reagent kit, demonstrating the company's rapid response capabilities in emergency public health events."
The vaccine manufacturer, a US company. $Emergent BioSolutions (EBS.US)$Which acquired the ACAM2000 smallpox vaccine in 2017, as a weapon against smallpox, helped its stock price soar 51.5% last week. Due to the association of ACAM2000 with cowpox virus and monkeypox virus, it is considered effective in preventing monkeypox, and many countries have reserves to prevent biological threats.
A commercial-stage pharmaceutical company focused on the health and safety market, with its flagship product TPOXX (tecovirimat) as an oral antiviral drug originally used to treat human smallpox. Although the stock price soared last Wednesday due to market expectations, it fell back last Thursday due to the preliminary results of TPOXX's monkeypox virus testing not reaching the main endpoint released by the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. $SIGA Technologies (SIGA.US)$SIGA emphasized that although the data did not reach statistical significance, the data still shows clinical benefits of TPOXX in early and severe patients, and believes that these data support further research on post-exposure prophylaxis. At the same time, the continued promotion of global trials will deepen the understanding of TPOXX's potential for the treatment of mpox.
As of 2022, the company's overall sales volume was 18,000 kiloliters, a year-on-year increase of 28.10%, with significant growth. In terms of product structure, the operating income of products worth 10-30 billion yuan were respectively 401/1288/60 million yuan.
Editor/ping