Flu Stocks in Focus as Orders, Approvals Stack Up

• By the tickerspy.com Staff
• On 9:56 am EDT, Wednesday October 7, 2009

Peak flu season is approaching, and investor focus is returning to related equity plays.

Baxter International (NYSE: BAX - News) is trading flat today after the company announced that it received European Commission approval for its Celvapan H1N1 vaccine. The company is testing whether a single dose will be sufficient in protecting against the vaccine, according to the Associated Press. Baxter says Ceplivan is "well tolerated" by individuals 18 and up, also according to the AP.

Other components of the Swine and Bird Flu Stocks Index have also announced new developments this week.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) took a required step on the way to emergency use application (EUA) of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals' (NASDAQ: BCRX - News) peramivir drug. A single treatment with the intravenous antiviral has been shown to be as effective as a five day Tamiflu regimen.

GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK - News) announced yesterday that it won another 22 government orders of its H1N1 vaccine, bringing its total orders to 440 million. According to Reuters, the sales could bring in $3.5 billion.

Vical (NASDAQ: VICL - News) is moving higher in relation to its TransVax cytomegalovirus (CMV) vaccine. In a phase two trials, the vaccine "continued to demonstrate an overall increase in cellular immune responses compared to placebo," said the press release.

Prior to today's open, more than half of the Swine and Bird Flu Stocks Index was negative over the last week. Chinese vaccine play Sinovac Biotech (AMEX: SVA - News), Hemispherx Biopharma (AMEX: HEB - News), and Maryland-based Novavax (NASDAQ: NVAX - News) were among the worst performers, down by -10% or more.

As of this writing, the Swine and Bird Flu Stocks Index is the worst-performing tickerspy Index over the last month. So far this year, investors have been rewarded for buying on the dips, and with the height of flu season around the corner, it will be interesting to see if the trend continues.

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