On Thursday, shares of Bavarian Nordic, a Danish biotech firm, experienced a notable surge, increasing by over 12% in early Copenhagen trading. This rise was sparked by the company’s announcement of strong second-quarter earnings and a significant new order for its mpox vaccine.
The uptick in stock price reflects growing global efforts to combat the escalating mpox outbreak in Africa, further boosting Bavarian Nordic’s performance this year.
Bavarian Nordic is one of the few companies producing a vaccine authorized for mpox, a disease for which there is high demand due to recent outbreaks. The company’s stock has soared more than 55% year-to-date, with most of this gain occurring in the past month.
The impressive rise in stock value follows better-than-expected earnings for the second quarter and an optimistic forecast for the rest of the year, projecting revenues of approximately 5.3 billion Danish kroner ($791 million).
The biotech firm also announced a new contract for 440,000 doses of its mpox vaccine with an undisclosed European country, expected to be delivered within the year. This vaccine, branded as Jynneos, Imvamune, and Imvanex in various regions, generated around 680 million Danish kroner ($101 million) in revenue during the second quarter.
Although this represents a nearly 50% decrease from the previous year—when countries were heavily responding to the 2022 global mpox outbreak—the revenue from the vaccine alone is substantial compared to Bavarian’s other travel vaccines.
In contrast, Emergent BioSolutions, another company in the sector, saw its shares rise by nearly 9% following the announcement of a sale of a manufacturing facility and other operational changes.
Emergent, which deals in opioid reversal agents and various countermeasures, has also seen a significant increase in stock value this year. However, despite recent gains, its stock has decreased by almost 25% over the past month.
The World Health Organization recently declared a public health emergency of international concern due to a severe mpox outbreak in central Africa. This outbreak, primarily affecting the Democratic Republic of Congo, has led to over 17,000 cases and 500 deaths this year.
Mpox, previously known as monkeypox, poses significant health risks, especially to vulnerable populations. Bavarian Nordic has committed to supplying 10 million doses of its vaccine by the end of 2025, with 2 million doses available by the end of 2024, including the recent European order.
