The smallpox vaccine by Bavarian Nordic, a Danish pharmaceutical company, has started to gain momentum as the treatment to monkeypox.
Jynneos, being a smallpox vaccine, is the only one that is also FDA-approved for monkeypox. At the start of the week, the company claimed to have gotten into contracts with multiple countries for the supply of the shot. After confirmation/suspicion of over a hundred infections in non-endemic areas, international governments are attempting to prevent bigger outbreaks.
The terms of the deals remain concealed, even the dosage is unknown at this point in time but Bavarian Nordic ensured enough supply to vaccinate everyone who is at risk of being infected by monkeypox.
The deals were big enough to ensure large cash inflow as Bavarian Nordic had to revise their estimates for revenue for the year. The adjustment in the previous forecast was 100M kronor, which is not trivial. Revised estimates mean that the new revenue expectation for the year is now 1.6B Danish kroner. Bavarian Nordic does not stop there, as they plan to, and are in negotiations with even more countries to stock their vaccine.
Paul Chaplin, CEO Bavarian Nordic, said that the outbreak of monkeypox is demanding immediate and organized response from the global health authorities. He also said that Bavarian Nordic is happy to help more nations with abundant supply of monkeypox vaccine and also hold dialogues with other countries to try and convince them to make the vaccines widely available as soon as possible before the situation gets worse or out of control.
The news comes soon after reports suggest European Union is trying to get a common purchasing deal for the monkeypox antivirals and vaccines. General consensus has been reached by the European Union states, for the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority to procure the required antivirals or vaccines at the earliest.
European Union is negotiating to purchase Bavarian Nordic’s smallpox vaccine, which goes by the name of Imvanex in the European region. Bavarian Nordic claims it has ample supply to meet the demand, even though the deal has not been made yet. As of last week, Bavarian Nordic claims to have struck a deal with a European country to supply Jynneos, even though according to them the sale does not have a significant impact on their annual sales. According to the deal, the shipments will start right away.
The vaccine has previously been used as an off-label in Europe even though it is not approved for monkeypox in Europe.
Captain Jennifer McQuiston, deputy director of CDC’s (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) High Consequences Pathogens Pathology Division, said that CDC has 1,000 doses available readily and believes that the stock will rise very fast as the company delivers more doses.
According to CDC, Jynneos can supposedly be used to protect against monkeypox because monkeypox and smallpox are closely related to each other.
United States has had six suspected cases of monkeypox and one confirmed case, in Massachusetts.
