Immunome soars 76% on Covid-19 hopes – but that's nothing

 Shares in Immunome jumped 76% yesterday after the company claimed to have isolated “potent antibodies” capable of neutralising several worrying SARS-CoV-2 variants, the result of very early discovery work that in today’s market is apparently worth $177m. This is far from the most egregious valuation surge triggered by Covid-19 claims, however, examples of which can be found from the very start of the pandemic. EvaluatePharma’s EventAnalyzer helps pinpoint some of the biggest percentage one-day gains seen over the past 12 months. Almost all of these groups used the opportunity to raise money, and most have failed to deliver on hopes. Ocugen stands out as a big beneficiary, for now at least. The company was a penny stock a mere 10 weeks ago, and executives were poised to ask shareholders to agree to a painful reverse split to prevent the stock’s banishment from Nasdaq. A deal with the Indian vaccines group Bharat Biotech changed its fortunes, and the initial near tripling of Ocugen’s shares was only the beginning of the gains. This is an exception rather than the rule, of course, something that those chasing Immunome yesterday would do well to remember.

Chasing cures: the biggest one-day share price moves prompted by Covid-19 announcements
Company	Event	Share price rise (%)	Resulting market cap ($m)	Current market cap ($m)
Equillium	Jul 13, 2020: partner Biocon claims a mortality benefit in 30-patient trial of itolizumab, used to treat cytokine release syndrome in hospitalised Covid-19 patients	731%	469	268
Bellerophon Therapeutics	Mar 20, 2020: FDA grants emergency expanded access to company's inhaled nitric oxide delivery system INOpulse for treating Covid-19	431%	82	75
Synairgen	Jul 21, 2020: data from a 101-patient phase II trial show 79% reduction in risk of severe disease with SNG001 vs placebo	421%	349	367
Capricor Therapeutics	Apr 29, 2020: 6 of 6 patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome caused by Covid-19, treated with cardiac cell therapy CAP-1002, survived, and four recovered	253%	76	148
Immuron	Jul 21, 2020: company claims that its IMM-124E technology is active against Covid-19 virus, in preclinical experiments	249%	99	53
Gritstone Oncology	Jan 19, 2021: company starts phase I trial of second-generation Covid-19 vaccine intended to protect against mutant variants	249%	841	694
AIM Immunotech	Mar 9, 2020: Japan starts testing company's chronic fatigue drug Ampligen, in Covid-19	191%	135	101
Ibio	Feb 28, 2020: files to raise $100m in the wake of deal with CC-Pharming to develop and produce Covid-19 vaccine candidates	183%	187	442
Ocugen	Dec 12, 2020: signs US development and commercialisation deal with Bharat Biotech over the Indian group's Covid-19 vaccine candidate Covaxin	174%	130	1,900
Tiziana Life Sciences	Mar 11, 2020: company says it plans to put its preclinical anti-IL-6 project TZLS-501 into Covid-19 trials	166%	152	311
Note: excludes companies with a market cap move of less than $35m. Source: EvaluatePharma & company releases. https://www.evaluate.com/vantage/articles/news/snippets/immunome-soars-76-covid-19-hopes-thats-nothing