Mpox outbreak: 5 stocks to watch out for as the emergency unfolds

The World Health Organisation on Wednesday declared the upsurge of monkeypox virus or ‘Mpox’ in Africa a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), stating it had the potential to spread across countries in Africa and possibly outside the continent. 

The virus originated in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and, in the last month, there have been 100 laboratory-confirmed cases reported in four countries—Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda—that had not previously reported this illness.

Experts believe the real number of cases could be higher as a large proportion of clinically compatible cases have not been tested, WHO said. 

WHO director general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said,

“The emergence of a new clade of Mpox, its rapid spread in eastern DRC, and the reporting of cases in several neighbouring countries are very worrying. On top of outbreaks of other Mpox clades in DRC and other countries in Africa, it’s clear that a coordinated international response is needed to stop these outbreaks and save lives.”

While analysts say it is still early to put out a verdict on whether the outbreak will have a significant impact on the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry or not, some related stocks have shown significant movements along with the rise of the outbreak in the last few weeks. It will be ideal to monitor these stocks as the health emergency unfolds.

1. Bavarian Nordic A/S

The Denmark headquartered biotechnology company is one of the two companies to have an approved Mpox vaccine.

Its MVA-BN vaccine called JYNEEOS has been approved by the WHO, as well as approved in the US, Switzerland, Canada and the European Union/European Economic Area.

The company announced on Wednesday that the European Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) will procure 175,420 doses of the vaccine for donation to the Africa CDC to support their response to the Mpox outbreak. 

The company chief Paul Chaplin also said on Wednesday that it had the capabilities and inventory to meet vaccination demands of Africa.

Bavarian Nordic could provide a total of two million doses to Africa by the end of this year, and another eight million in 2025, the CEO said. 

Last week, the company announced that it had received an order of $156.8 million from the US Department of Health and Human Services to manufacture additional bulk product for JYNEEOS.

On Thursday, share price of the company were up by 8%. In the last one month, its stock has surged by more than 36%.

2. GeoVax Labs

The US-based biotechnology company has secured rights from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) covering preclinical, clinical and commercial uses of the NIH-MVA as a vaccine against Mpox or smallpox, and intends to become the first US-based supplier of the MVA vaccine to prevent mpox. 

In the last five days, its share price has almost doubled, rising 91%. On Thursday, its share price was up 30% since last close and 5.54% in pre-market hours. 

3. Siga Technologies

The American pharmaceutical company produces TPOXX- an antiviral medicine approved in the US and Canada for treatment of smallpox and authorised in Europe and the UK for the treatment of smallpox, Mpox, cowpox and others. 

In July, the company announced it had received an order $113 million for Oral TPOXX from the US department of health and human services. 

The stock has gained more than 31% in the last one month and its share price was up by almost 27% on Thursday since last close, and up 1.09% in pre-market hours on Nasdaq. 

4. Precision System Science Co.

The Japanese medical tools supplier’S MagDEA Dx reagents were used in the 2022 outbreak for testing samples for detection of the virus. 

Its share price jumped by more than 39% in Japan on Thursday. During the last five days, its stock has surged by more than 51%. 

5. Emergent BioSolutions

The American multinational specialty biopharmaceutical company produces ACAM2000, another vaccine for abatement of Mpox recommended by the WHO during the Mpox outbreak of 2022 along with the MVA-BN and the LC16 .

However, while the health body recommended it, it did not approve it as the vaccine was found to be unsuitable for pregnant and breast-feeding women, as well as children. 

It was also found to be contraindicated in persons with a weakened immune system, WHO said and recommended it for use only be healthy adults.

While shares of the company crashed 30% last week as losses ballooned beyond expectations in its latest earnings announcement, the stock has gained more than 33% in the last five days. Its share price was up by 11.65% on Thursday since last close but down by 2.91% during pre-market hours.