The company said that it now intends to advance Z-1018 into the next part of the study in adults 70 years of age and older in the second half of the year.
Dynavax Technologies Corp. (DVAX) on Thursday said that its experimental Shingles vaccine yielded positive results in an early-to-mid-stage study as compared to GSK Plc’s (GSK) Shingrix vaccine.
Herpes zoster, or shingles, is a viral infection that affects approximately one in three people in their lifetime. The disease is characterized by a painful rash and can lead to serious complications, particularly in older adults.
The company evaluated the experimental vaccine in participants aged 50 to 69 years for the first part of the study, and it showed that at one month after the second vaccine dose, Z-1018 demonstrated immune responses similar to those observed in the arm receiving Shingrix with a favorable tolerability profile.
On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around DVAX stock jumped from ‘bearish’ to ‘bullish’ over the past 24 hours, while message volume rose from ‘normal’ to ‘high’ levels. Shares of the company traded 6% higher on Thursday afternoon at the time of writing.
A Stocktwits user suggested holding the stock patiently.
The company said that it now intends to advance Z-1018 into the next part of the study in adults 70 years of age and older in the second half of the year. At the dose formulation and regimen chosen for advancing to the next part of the trial, Z-1018 achieved 100% antibody production compared to Shingrix at 96.9%, the company said.
Furthermore, only 12.5% of participants receiving Z-1018 at the dose reported local post-injection reactions, compared to 52.6% for Shingrix, the company said. It also noted that 27.5% participants reported body-wide reactions with the experimental vaccine, compared to 63.2% in Shingrix.
“These positive data mark an important inflection point for our novel shingles vaccine program as we strive to develop a product with a potential best-in-class profile with the aim to disrupt the multi-billion-dollar shingles vaccine market, which is currently dominated by one product,” said CEO Ryan Spencer, referring to Shingrix.
DVAX stock is down by 14% this year and by about 3% over the past 12 months.
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