The company recently received a 440,000 smallpox and Mpox vaccine dose contract from an unnamed European country.
ADVERTISEMENTDanish biotech giant Bavarian Nordic’s shares gained on Thursday, after the company bagged an increasing number of European Mpox vaccine orders and revealed better-than-expected second quarter earnings.
As a result, it also highlighted that it would likely achieve the higher end of its 2024 guidance.
Bavarian Nordic’s shares soared 12.15% to DKK 277 (€37.12) on Thursday afternoon.
The new guidance for the entire year 2024 at the higher end of the range expects earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation to be about DKK 1,350m (€180.91m). Aggregated revenue is likely to be about DKK 5,300m (€710.38m).
The company recently said that it had received a 440,000 dose contract for smallpox and Mpox vaccines from an unnamed European country. This could be a result of more European countries starting to prioritise early preparation when it comes to Mpox, following 2022’s global outbreak.
Bavarian Nordic’s Mpox vaccine, JYNNEOS, also known by the brand names Imvamune and Imvanes is one of the only two Mpox vaccines approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The World Health Organisation’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunisation (SAGE) also recommends JYNNEOS.
In a statement, Paul Chaplin, Bavarian Nordic’s president and chief executive officer (CEO) said: “We are pleased to report strong developments for Bavarian Nordic during the first half of 2024. Unfortunately, Mpox is again making global headlines as a result of the record number of cases reported in Africa.
“We have built a strong partnership with the Africa CDC, both on exploring supply, but also expanding our manufacturing network to include Africa. In response to recent events, the company plans to ramp-up vaccine manufacturing to ensure the continued equitable access to our Mpox vaccine.”
Bavarian Nordic has already said that it would be able to produce about 10 million doses by the end of next year, on top of its existing orders, and could potentially deliver up to 2 million doses by the end of 2024.
WHO declares outbreak of new strain of Mpox a public health emergency
The World Health Organisation recently declared the current outbreak of a new strain of Mpox a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). This is the first time this has been done since May 2022.
This new rapidly spreading strain has been causing an increase in the number of Mpox cases in countries which did not previously have the virus, such as Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi and Kenya.
In a statement on the WHO website, Professor Dimie Ogoina, said: “The current upsurge of Mpox in parts of Africa, along with the spread of a new sexually transmissible strain of the monkeypox virus is an emergency, not only for Africa, but for the entire globe.”
The WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, also said on the website: “Significant efforts are already underway in close collaboration with communities and government, with our country teams working on the frontlines to help reinforce measures to curb Mpox.
“With the growing spread of the virus, we’re scaling up further through coordinated international action to support countries to bring the outbreaks to an end.”
