What happened
Dynavax Technologies (DVAX 2.69%), a biotech company that has been a popular stock throughout the coronavirus pandemic, was doing very well this week. According to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence, Dynavax's shares were up by 16% week to date as of Thursday night, on the back of a worrying rise in COVID-19 cases and fatalities in several parts of the world.
So what
A resurgent coronavirus anywhere in the world means more vaccination pushes, which benefits the business of Dynavax. The company has done well through the pandemic because of its CpG 1018 adjuvant, which is used in several COVID vaccines either on the market or in development.
Image source: Getty Images.
An adjuvant is a substance that enhances the immune response of a vaccine.
Lately, several of those pipeline coronavirus vaccines have advanced further toward regulatory authorization.
One is VLA2001, a jab being developed by Valneva. That company announced at the end of last week that it had received follow-up queries from an arm of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), the pharmaceutical industry regulator for the European Union. The EMA had begun its rolling review of the vaccine last December.
Meanwhile, on Thursday China-based Clover Biopharmaceuticals unveiled the results of a phase 2/3 trial of its own COVID vaccine candidate, SCB-2019 -- a jab that also utilizes Dynavax's CpG 1018. Clover said this latest trial shows that SCB-2019 "continues to demonstrate high and durable protection against COVID-19 as well as strong immune responses against [the] omicron [variant] when used as a booster."
Now what
As an adjuvant maker, Dynavax benefits commensurately when its products are used in successful vaccines. We can expect similar stock price pops if and when a CpG 1018-loaded vaccine moves further down the regulatory pipeline -- assuming, of course, the coronavirus remains a major threat.
