Mpox stocks in focus as Thailand reports first case in Asia linked to new strain

Companies with products targeting the mpox virus will be in focus on Thursday trading after Thailand reported the first case in Asia linked to a new mpox strain called clade Ib, which has led to a recent outbreak in Africa.

According to Thailand’s health ministry, a European male who arrived in Bangkok from Africa last week was admitted to a hospital on Aug. 15, a day after his arrival, due to symptoms linked to mpox.

Noting that lab tests confirmed his infection was linked to the clade Ib variant, the ministry said it would report results to the WHO, which has already declared a global emergency over the virus, formerly known as mpox.

The new strain has been spreading across several African countries over the past few months and has led to 500 deaths in the Democratic Republic of the Congo alone, with a fatality rate of 3%.

The new strain is thought to be deadlier and more transmissible than the mild Clade 2b variant, which led to the previous mpox outbreak and prompted WHO to declare a global health emergency in 2022.

Vaccine developers for mpox include Bavarian Nordic (OTCPK:BVNKF) (OTCPK:BVNRY), Emergent BioSolutions (NYSE:EBS), and Chimerix (NASDAQ:CMRX).

Developers of mpox therapeutics: GeoVax Labs (GOVX), SIGA Technologies (NASDAQ:SIGA), and Tonix Pharmaceuticals (TNXP).

Monkeypox test makers: Co-Diagnostics (CODX), Roche (OTCQX:RHHBY) (OTCQX:RHHBF), Abbott Laboratories (ABT), Applied DNA Sciences (APDN)