By
Godfrey Benjamin
October 4th, 2023
Inovio(INO) stock is enjoying the rally as it put on almost 8% weight days after it announced that it will be speeding up plans for its coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine.
There are a few biotech companies currently working on treating the new coronavirus COVID-19 strain. For these companies right now, nothing is more important than giving the world a solution to either treat or prevent new cases of the virus, via a vaccine. While there is considerable progress being made by these firms, Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: INO) seems to be atop that list and with its stock largely benefitting for the company’s plans. At the moment, Inovio stock (INO), seems unstoppable.
Inovio (INO) Stock Pumps Again
Inovio recently announced that it will be speeding up its timeline for the development of its INO-4800 COVID-19 vaccine. The company’s President and CEO Dr. J. Joseph Kim revealed this at the White House on Monday, saying that it will start human clinical trials in the U.S. in April. Kim added that the company will then extend the trials to China and South Korea. The news of Inovio’s accelerated timeline sent INO accelerating wildly. It jumped about 70% the day after, hitting $7.45.
INO has been rising consistently since then and climbed 7.72% yesterday, to close at $8.03. This rise is been maintained as the stock’s premarket figure puts it up another 3.55% to its current $8.31 mark.
Interestingly, INO’s 2020 gain is now over 143% with more than 244% in the last three months alone. The company’s market cap is now inching closer to $1 billion at $813.42 million.
Inovio (IBO) Stock Could Jump Further
As part of CEO Dr. Kim’s announcement, he also revealed Inovio’s plan for the vaccine’s availability. From his speech, if the human trials are successful, Inovio plans that at least a million doses will be available before the end of 2020. Dr. Kim’s speech also suggests that the company hopes to do a lot more if it is better equipped, probably with more funds.
“We plan on delivering one million doses by year end with existing resources and capacity. However, we will need additional resources to scale up to make enough doses to help protect Americans from COVID-19 as well as to lead global efforts to curtail this virus.”
Because of the recent developments, it would make sense to think that people who hold INO might be in for a jolly good ride. Inovio seems to be blazing the trail among other biotech companies, at least as far as a COVID-19 vaccine is concerned.
Watch Out for Volatility
Markets are almost always volatile and can’t always be trusted to maintain a pump. Inovio is enjoying heavy returns now because of its accelerated plan for the vaccine. Interestingly on Tuesday, other biotech stocks including Novavax Inc (NASDAQ: NVAX) and Moderna Inc (NASDAQ: MRNA) both went over 12% and 7% respectively. On Wednesday, NVAX was 5% up while MRNA was 1.5% down.
If Inovio’s trials prove successful, the company will probably continue to spike, pulling in mind-blowing returns for investors. If, however, other biotech companies succeed in taking over Inovio’s speed, INO might lose some weight.
Even though Inovio has not won the race, it is clearly ahead. But the fact that the race isn’t over still gives room for a change in the current situation.