The Danish biotech company Bavarian Nordic is shot on the stock market as it is the manufacturer of the vaccine, Imnavex, authorized by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in 2013 against smallpox and in 2019 by the US FDA , where it is marketed under the name Jynneos.
Indeed, the company announced yesterday that the US government will exercise a $119 million contract option for a freeze-dried version of its Jynneos smallpox and monkeypox vaccine.
Developed by Bavarian Nordic, the drug does not have a specific use for the “monkeypox”, but it could protect against this endemic disease of central and western Africa in around 85%, according to the experience with the vaccines used before the eradication of the disease. human smallpox.
In recent days, and while confirmed and suspected cases of monkeypox have multiplied in several countries, including Spain, all eyes are on this Danish company with extensive experience in manufacturing vaccines for various diseases. including rage.
Bavarian Nordic announced yesterday that the company has secured a contract with an undisclosed European country to supply its Imvanex smallpox vaccine in response to new cases of monkeypox occurring during May 2022.
The first European case was confirmed on May 7, 2022, in an individual returning from a trip to Nigeria, where monkeypox is endemic. Subsequently, more than 20 cases have been confirmed in England, Portugal and Spain, and other suspected cases are being investigated.
Evidence suggests that most infections have been acquired locally in these countries. In the US, a single case has been confirmed in a traveler from Canada, where no cases have yet been confirmed, but several are still being investigated.
Paul Chaplin, President and CEO of Bavarian Nordic explains that “although all the circumstances surrounding the current cases of monkeypox in Europe have not yet been elucidated, the speed with which they have evolved, together with the possibility that infections beyond the initial case without being detected, requires a rapid and coordinated approach by health authorities, and we are pleased to help in this emergency situation”.
Bavarian explains that they have long been a supplier to the US government of a non-replicating smallpox vaccine, which has been approved by the FDA, also for protection against monkeypox.
The vaccine is licensed as a smallpox vaccine in Europe and Canada and its commercial product portfolio also contains vaccines against rabies and tick-borne encephalitis. Using our live virus vaccine platform technology, MVA-BN®, we have created a diverse portfolio of proprietary and partner product candidates, including an Ebola vaccine licensed to the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson.
They are also committed to developing a next-generation COVID-19 vaccine and a respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine, which will enter Phase 3 clinical trials this year.
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