The U.S. federal government is partnering with McKesson (NYSE:MCK) on vaccine distribution, once a vaccine for the coronavirus is approved and available, President Trump said in a White House press briefing.
McKesson rises 3.1%. Competitors AmerisourceBergen (ABC +1.4%) and Cardinal Health (CAH +1.9%) are getting a lift as well.
Thinly traded micro cap Taiwan Liposome (NASDAQ:TLC) surges 100% premarket on increased volume in reaction to its submission of an Investigational New Drug (IND) Application to the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration seeking sign off on a clinical trial of TLC19 Hydroxychloroquine Liposome Inhalation Suspension, an inhaled formulation of the malaria med, for the potential treatment of COVID-19.
TLC19 utilizes company’s liposome technology to encapsulate ~1/100 of the oral HCQ dose into an inhalable formulation for direct deposit into the airways and lungs. A recent manuscript showed that inhalable liposomal HCQ achieved increased exposure (~30-fold) and half-life (~2.5-fold) in the lungs than oral HCQ.
According to the company, TLC19 can achieve antiviral effect with a miniscule dose compared to orally administered HCQ while lowering blood and heart exposure.
Health authorities in the U.S. and elsewhere have backed away from using the oral formulation of hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 after several studies failed to show a treatment benefit.
The European Commission (EC) has reached an agreement with AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) to purchase up to 400M doses of COVID-19 vaccine AZD1222, if approved.
The EU has allocated €2B ($2.3B) to procure vaccines from up to six producers.
Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) gains 7% premarket after signing term sheet agreement with the UK Government for the purchase of 60M doses of company’s COVID-19 vaccine, NVX-CoV2373 and a Phase 3 clinical trial to assess the efficacy of the vaccine in the UK population.
The late-stage trial expected to begin in Q3, will enroll ~9,000 adults 18-85 years of age in UK.
The company will also expand its collaboration with Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, which will manufacture the antigen component of NVX-CoV2373 from its Billingham, Stockton-on-Tees site in UK, in addition to its sites in North Carolina and Texas in U.S. The UK site is expected to produce up to 180M doses annually.
Novavax will supply vaccine doses as early as Q1 2021.
German biotech CureVac (CVAC) jumps out the gate in its IPO, printing at $44 (+175%). Turnover is a robust 5.9M shares.
The big draw is its mRNA COVID-19 vaccine candidate, currently in Phase 1 development. Topline data should be available next quarter.
Lead program is CV8102, also in Phase 1 development, for the treatment of four types of solid tumors.
Earlier this year, CureVac tapped investors, including the German government and GSK, for $640M to support its work against the coronavirus and other diseases.
Duck Creek Technologies, up 55% today, is another IPO where underwriters either sharply misread demand or were hoping for huge debut-day gains in the headlines.
