What happened
Troubled biotech Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding (Nasdaq:TNXP) wasn't having a bad time of it on Monday. In mid-afternoon, the shares were trading marginally higher, likely because of the announcement of a new company facility.
So what
Tonix divulged in a press release that on Tuesday, it will conduct a groundbreaking ceremony at a new manufacturing facility in southeastern Massachusetts.
Image source: Getty Images.
This "advanced development center," which is planned to cover 45,000 square feet of space, will house company research, development, and manufacturing activities. As for the latter, Tonix will particularly concentrate on making clinical-trial quality vaccines.
Although Tonix didn't specifically state as much, this almost surely centers on its current COVID-19 pipeline vaccine, TNX-1800. All told, when fully staffed, the facility should employ as many as 70 people, the company said.
Now what
Tonix, a clinical-stage biotech, has fallen out of favor with investors lately because of the dispiriting results of its top pipeline drug, TNX-102 SL, for which the company recently stopped enrolling patients in a Phase 3 fibromyalgia trial due to worse-than-expected results. A biotech's fortunes rely on clinical trial results, and this one was particularly disappointing because earlier reporting indicated that TNX-102 SL had real potential.
Given that, the news of a new facility coming onstream isn't going to be a game changer for the stock. The company is certainly right to emphasize its vaccine production aspect, given the timeliness during the coronavirus pandemic. However that's likely to be a powerful factor only if Tonix can meaningfully advance TNX-1800's development.
