Colorized transmission electron microscopy image of monkeypox virus particles (red) found in an infected laboratory-cultured cell (blue).
Universal Images Group | Getty Images
LONDON – Shares in Danish vaccine maker Bavarian Nordic rose as much as 17% on Thursday amid a broader rally in related healthcare stocks after the World Health Organization declared an escalating Mpox outbreak in Africa a public health emergency.
Bavarian Nordic, one of the few companies with an approved MPOX vaccine, rose 16.5 percent in early trading in Copenhagen, Denmark, extending its 13 percent gain from the previous session when the company said it could meet rising demand for the vaccine.
The stock gave up its gains and was up around 8% by about 4:36 p.m. local time.
Shares of a US pharmaceutical company New biosolutions – whose vaccine ACAM2000 is one of two vaccines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), along with Bavarian Nordic’s JYNNEOS – rose in after-hours trading in New York.
Now a supplier of medical devices Precision Systems Science Co In Tokyo, sales rose by 40 percent.
Wednesday's WHO statement – the second in two years on MPOX – follows an outbreak of the viral infection in the Democratic Republic of Congo that has spread to neighboring countries.
The status of “public health emergency of international concern” is the highest classification by the WHO and aims to accelerate international action and public health cooperation to contain a disease.
Mpox is a zoonosis that is transmitted from animals to humans. with flu-like symptoms and purulent lesions on the body. Usually mild, it can be fatal in rare cases.
The increase in cases is attributed to a new variant, called clade Ib, which appears to spread more easily through close contact, including sexual contact. Cases of the new variant have now been confirmed in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda.
This came after an earlier outbreak of the virus in 2022, when thousands of cases were reported worldwide, prompting the WHO to declare a public health emergency. This designation was lifted in May 2023 after the number of cases steadily declined.
Brian Ferguson, associate professor of immunology at the University of Cambridge, said the new outbreak was particularly worrying because it was occurring more frequently among children and more needed to be done to improve access to vaccines.
“Although effective vaccines already exist, there are not enough doses” and the vaccines are not getting to where they are needed, he said.
The WHO said it was working with countries and vaccine manufacturers to improve access for affected countries. The UN health agency said it had released $1.45 million in emergency funds and may need to release more in the coming days. It expects its response plan will require an initial immediate funding requirement of $15 million.
“Cost and availability of the vaccine will be a major challenge,” said Jimmy Whitworth, professor emeritus at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, adding that an estimated 10 million vaccine doses would be needed to contain the outbreak.
Paul Chaplin, CEO of Bavarian Nordic, told the Financial Times that the company could increase vaccine supply to two million doses by the end of the year and 10 million doses by the end of 2025 if governments place orders. “We have the capacity, but we need people to start placing orders pretty quickly,” he said.
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