What happened
At a news conference Sunday, President Donald Trump announced that the Food and Drug Administration has issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for convalescent plasma therapy as a treatment for hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Convalescent plasma is the fluid component of blood that contains antibodies from patients previously infected with the virus.
In response to this news, shares of the convalescent plasma therapy players ADMA Biologics (NASDAQ: ADMA), iBio (NEWS: IBIO), en Kamada (NASDAQ: KMDA) each received a nice boost in pre-market trading on Monday morning. ADMA Biologics’ share jumped by a healthy 68%, iBio’s shares were up by just under 28%, and Kamada’s share plunged as much as 24% in this morning’s action.
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So what
ADMA Biologics is a member of the Plasma Alliance CoVIg-19. However, it has not yet developed COVID-19 plasma therapy. However, biotech can still benefit from this regulatory development in the short term by becoming an integral part of the supply chain.
iBio’s connection to the current pandemic stems primarily from its plant-based fax efforts. In the past, however, the company has shown the ability to produce human plasma proteins with its platform. Investors apparently hope that iBio will decide to continue to push into the therapeutic arena in the wake of this EUA.
Kamada, a small biotech based in Israel, is probably the leader in the COVID-19 plasma-based therapy space. The company’s plasma treatment is already available to COVID-19 patients in Israel through a compassionate use program. Kamada also has plans to initiate a US-based trial for this therapy later this year.
Well what
Should investors buy one of these red-hot biotech shares today? While it may be tempting to chase ADMA Biologics, iBio, as Kamada in the wake of this positive regulatory development, there are good reasons to take a wait-and-see approach with each other today. of these supplies.
This EUA was actually not without controversy. The FDA’s in-house supervisor notes that placebo-controlled, randomized trials were still needed to support the effectiveness of recovery-time plasma therapy in hospital COVID-19 patients. That is not exactly a derogatory remark. As such, it may be a good idea to stick to the safety of the sideline today with these three supplies.
