Shares of Siga Technologies (SIGA) have been on the rise over the last week and continue higher on Friday as concerns about monkeypox outbreaks that are worsening in the U.S. and elsewhere around the world draw attention to this small cap vaccine developer.
TECOVIRIMAT: Siga Technologies, whose research has been funded by the U.S. government to address the threat posed by biological weapons, has developed an antiviral known as tecovirimat to fight smallpox and related viruses, including monkeypox. Earlier this year, the European Medicines Agency approved tecovirimat not only for smallpox, but also for monkeypox and cowpox. “As you might imagine, a number of the jurisdictions where cases are being found have contacted us and are interested in acquiring the drug as soon as possible,” Dennis Hruby, chief scientific officer at Siga Technologies, previously told Euronews Next.. “Our drug will stop further progression of the disease and then allow your natural immune system to kick in and eradicate the virus,” Hruby added in an interview published on May 21.
On May 19, Siga announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the intravenous formulation of TPOXX for the treatment of smallpox, calling the IV formulation "an important option for those who are unable to swallow the oral capsules of TPOXX." The oral formulation of TPOXX is approved in the US, Canada and Europe for the treatment of smallpox. The European approval also includes the treatment of monkeypox, cowpox, and complications from immunization with vaccinia. The IV formulation of TPOXX was cited in the recent U.S. president's budget request as being used to treat a patient in the U.S. with monkeypox, the company noted.
OTHERS TO WATCH: On May 20, Benchmark analyst Robert Wasserman noted that shares of biotech companies with product offerings in the smallpox vaccine or therapeutic treatment area, including Emergent BioSolutions (EBS), Siga Technologies, and Chimerix (CMRX), had risen following reports of monkeypox cases in Europe, the UK, Canada and now the U.S. Emergent's ACAM2000 is a smallpox vaccine sold into the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile and its VIGIV is an antibody therapeutic licensed by the U.S. and Canada to address certain complications from replicating virus smallpox vaccination, noted Wasserman, who added that Emergent offers the widest product line to combat a monkeypox/smallpox outbreak in the U.S. and worldwide after it recently announced the acquisition of Tembexa from Chimerix. He kept a Buy rating and $55 price target on Emergent shares.
PRICE ACTION: In pre-market trading on Friday, Siga shares are up 84c, or 9%, to $10.48, adding to their recent gains.
Chimerix
-0.02 (-1.12%)
Emergent BioSolutions
-1.68 (-4.98%)
Siga Technologies
+0.865 (+9.86%)