Biotech companies all over the world have been trying to find the treatment and vaccine for the coronavirus pandemic since January of this year. In this backdrop, shares of three US biotechnology companies’ jumped today in the pre-market trading session as they have made important announcements on covid19 treatment.
Molecular diagnostics firm Co-Diagnostics (NASDAQ: CODX) topped with more than 50% increase in its stock price, while Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA) and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: REGN) rose about 10% each in the before-market hours.
Co-Diagnostics
Co-Diagnostics announced today that FDA’s change in policy on diagnostic testing for coronavirus (COVID-19) to achieve more rapid testing capacity in the U.S. will help the company to ship more of its Logix Smart Covid-19 test kits to all over the world.
CEO Dwight Egan stated, “The ramifications of this new FDA policy are significant for our company. This change will quickly afford Co-Diagnostics even more opportunities to serve the needs of laboratories nationwide, as we play an even larger role in responding to this pandemic.”
Moderna
The clinical-stage biotechnology firm Moderna continued to trade in the positive territory carry forwarding the momentum it got on yesterday as the company dosed its first patient in coronavirus vaccine trial. Last month-end, the company shipped its first coronavirus vaccine candidate to the National Institutes of Health for clinical trials.
MRNA stock, which rose 24% yesterday, has risen more than 50% since the beginning of this year.
Regeneron
Tarrytown, New York-based Regeneron announced today that it has identified hundreds of virus-neutralizing antibodies from the company’s VelocImmune mice, which have been genetically-modified to have a human immune system. Regeneron has also isolated antibodies from humans who have recovered from COVID-19, in order to maximize the pool of potentially potent antibodies.
Regeneron plans to manufacture these antibodies in a large scale by the end of summer and expects to have smaller quantities available for initial clinical testing at the beginning of the summer.
Also yesterday, Regeneron and its partner Sanofi announced the initiation of a Phase 2/3 clinical trial evaluating Kevzara in patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19. While Regeneron will lead the trials in the US, Sanofi will lead the upcoming non-US trials.