- Danish monkeypox-vaccine maker Bavarian Nordic surged as much as 17% on Thursday.
- The company's two-day gain extended to 31% at highs after the WHO declared mpox a public health emergency.
- Other stocks in the health space also jumped worldwide on the news.
Danish monkeypox-vaccine maker Bavarian Nordic surged as much as 17% on Thursday amid rising alarm over the virus.
The company extended its two-day gain to 31% at intraday highs after the World Health Organization declared the virus a public health emergency of international concern, citing the rising risk that its outbreak in Africa could spread globally.
Reports emphasize the need for vaccinations to combat this fast-spreading disease, though supply appears to be constrained.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Bavarian Nordic CEO Paul Chaplin noted that the company will be able to meet the challenge among African nations, and pledged to provide 10 million mpox doses to the region by the end of 2025.
"We have inventory and we have the capabilities. What we're missing are the orders," he said Wednesday, noting that 300,000 doses are ready for shipping.
During 2022's outbreak, Bavarian Nordic was the only company approved to create a mpox vaccine. However, overwhelming demand forced it to consider outsourcing production.
Momentum around the latest emergency announcement has also swept up other firms. In Japan, medical tools supplier Precision System Science rocketed as high as 39% on Wednesday.
Chinese firms focused on virus detection products also gained, with Shanghai ZJ Bio-Tech rising as much as 8.4%. Others, such as Daan Gene and Assure Tech Hangzhou, beat the benchmark CSI 300 index.
Even before the WHO's declaration, alarm bells have been ringing over the mpox strain that first appeared in September. According to Bloomberg, its broken out in at least six African nations, infecting 15,000.
In June, a University of Rwanda lecturer called it "undoubtedly the most dangerous of all the known strains of mpox."