With SIGA FDA win, monkeypox virus sees company spring to further action

 As the cases of monkeypox now sit at well over 100 worldwide and have spread to multiple continents, the orders for any type of vaccine against monkeypox are seeing nations and medical bodies looking to get their hands on anything and everything. And now SIGA Technologies seems to be getting in on the action.

According to Euronews, SIGA Technologies, a pharmaceutical company that is focused on providing medical countermeasures to biological and chemical attacks, is now in talks with several European authorities looking to stockpile its antiviral that can counter monkeypox. The drug known as tecovirimat or Tpoxx was approved by the FDA in 2018 as a vaccine for smallpox but was approved by the European Medicines Agency to also act against monkeypox, cowpox and complications from immunization with vaccinia.

According to SIGA CEO Philip Gomez,  the company will announce orders as they confirm quantities, but the first step in conversations with government officials has been focused on Tpoxx usage for current monkeypox cases.

According to SIGA, Tpoxx is an orally administered and IV formulation treatment, with the company and the US government maintaining a relationship since 2013 according to Gomez. The US maintains a stockpile of 1.7 million courses in the Strategic National Stockpile under Project BioShield. The IV version of the drug was recently approved by the FDA on Thursday and is intended for patients who are unable to swallow the oral versions of the drug.

“The demand will be driven by the facts around the outbreak, but it is very important to recognize that this antiviral was developed as a treatment for smallpox, which spreads rapidly and historically had a mortality rate of 30%,” Gomez said. “Tpoxx is currently only stockpiled in the US and Canada, but we anticipate this outbreak will result in more countries stockpiling the therapy.”

No indications have been given that any of the people who have been diagnosed with monkeypox have received Tpoxx as a treatment.

However, before the current situation, several North American nations had been looking to stock up on the drug. In January of last year, SIGA and the Health Agency of Canada inked a deal for Canada to purchase $33 million worth of the oral version of the drug. Earlier this month, the US Department of Defense procured $7.5 million worth of oral as well.

The news over their recent deals has caused their stock to soar, with their price $SIGA increasing 74% over the past five days, with their stock also up 64% since the beginning of the year.

However, this trend is not unique to SIGA, as other companies in the smallpox vaccine manufacturing business are experiencing positive stock bumps as nations look to place their order and stockpile.

As reported by Endpoints News on Friday, Emergent BioSolutions’ stock jumped more than 10% on Friday, four days after the company plumped down $225 million for the rights to Chimerix’s smallpox vaccine. Chimerix’s stock $CMRX was up more than 3.8% on Friday. And Bavarian Nordic $BVNRY — which closed a $119 million deal with BARDA to provide the US government with freeze-dried doses of the Jynneos smallpox vaccine — was up nearly 2.5%.

https://endpts.com/on-the-back-of-siga-technologies-win-with-the-fda-the-monkeypox-virus-sees-the-company-springing-to-further-action/