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A Danish pharmaceutical giant with the only MPOX vaccine approved in the United States and Europe has reached an agreement to produce 440,000 vaccines.
Shares in Bavarian Nordic rose after reporting better-than-expected earnings, in another success story for a Danish drugmaker following the triumph of Novo Nordisk, maker of weight-loss and diabetes drugs Wegovy and Ozempic.
This is another success story for a Danish pharmaceutical company following the triumph of Novo Nordisk.
The company has been boosted by an increasingly frequent outbreak of mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, in Africa amid fears the disease could spread to other continents.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared Mpox a global health emergency. The virus, which can be fatal, causes symptoms such as fever and chills, followed by rash, blisters and scabs.
In London, Bavarian Nordic shares rose 11.8%, or 29.1p, to 274.45p as second-quarter revenue hit £162.6m and operating profit was £47.8m.
The biotech firm has struck a deal to supply 440,000 MPOX vaccines to an unnamed European country. Chief executive Paul Chaplin said the order showed the need to prepare for a new spread of MPOX, following an outbreak in 2022.
“Unfortunately, smallpox and the smallpox virus are once again making headlines around the world,” he said. “Since the last outbreak, Bavarian Nordic has established a strong strategic partnership with authorities who have recognized the need for improved preparedness against smallpox and the smallpox virus.”
Bavarian Nordic has the capacity to produce 10 million doses by the end of 2025 and is on track to supply up to 2 million this year.
It is expanding its production network to include Africa and is prepared to make the vaccine accessible to all countries.
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Since January 2023, 27,000 cases of mpox and more than 1,100 deaths have been recorded in the Congo.