What happened
Vaccine specialist Dynavax (DVAX -1.79%) climbed more than 14% higher on Monday. It's little wonder: The company announced the coronavirus jab it co-developed with Taiwan's Medigen has been rolled out in the populous Asian nation.
So what
Every Dynavax watcher knew this day was coming; still, it's encouraging that MVC-COV1901 has been efficiently produced and launched. After all, the vaccine received its Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from Taiwan's health ministry barely over one month ago.
Image source: Getty Images.
In its press release trumpeting the news, Dynavax said that roughly 600,000 people in the large island nation will be inoculated with the vaccine this week. Similar to the more high-profile coronavirus vaccines made by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, MVC-COV1901 is a two-shot solution.
Dynavax makes the adjutant -- an ingredient used to stimulate a stronger immune response in vaccines -- utilized in the Medigen jab.
"We are very excited for this first, of hopefully multiple, EUAs and approvals for COVID-19 vaccines that include CpG 1018 adjuvant," the biotech company quoted CEO Ryan Spencer as saying.
"Considering the limitations of current vaccines and the global vaccine shortage, we believe adjuvanted vaccines can contribute significantly to current vaccination efforts," he added.
Now what
The ball is certainly rolling for MVC-COV1901. Indeed, now that the shot has won its first authorization from a national health authority and will soon be jabbed into arms, it's likely other authorizations will follow.
Nevertheless, Dynavax bulls should temper their enthusiasm by recognizing that other vaccines -- notably Pfizer/BioNTech's newly fully approved Comirnaty -- have been on the market for quite some time and are well established throughout the world.
