Monkeypox plays make a comeback as WHO convenes emergency meeting

blackdovfx/iStock via Getty Images Pharma companies focused on therapeutic solutions to the smallpox virus made a comeback on Tuesday, signaling their heydays during the previous global outbreak, as the WHO called for an emergency meeting regarding an ongoing outbreak in Africa. Notable gainers include GeoVax Labs ( NASDAQ: GOVX ), SIGA Technologies ( NASDAQ: SIGA ), Tonix Pharmaceuticals ( TNXP ), and Bavarian Nordic ( OTCPK:BVNKF ) ( OTCPK:BVNRY ), all of which rallied before the WHO classified the previous outbreak as a global public health emergency in 2022. According to media reports, the latest outbreak started in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and is now spreading to neighboring countries.

Attributed to a newer and deadlier monkeypox strain with a higher transmissibility, it has already led to 14,479 confirmed and suspected cases as well as 455 deaths in DRC, as of Aug. 3, according to the Africa CDC. With the virus spreading beyond DRC, WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday he will convene an emergency committee to advise whether the current outbreak represents a public health emergency.

The meeting comprising independent experts is expected to take place “as soon as possible ,” Ghebreyesus wrote on X. More on Bavarian Nordic, SIGA etc. SIGA Technologies, Inc.

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