By Steve Goldstein
Valneva’s wild stock-price rise continued on Monday after the French biotech said its coronavirus vaccine candidate outperformed AstraZeneca’s in a trial.
Valneva /zigman2/quotes/202377434/delayed FR:VLA +3.54% /zigman2/quotes/226552993/composite VALN -8.49% shares rose as much as 46% after it said a Phase 3 trial showed its vaccine candidate, VLA2001, outperformed AstraZeneca’s /zigman2/quotes/203048482/delayed UK:AZN +1.90% in a trial of 4,012 people, with a significantly more favorable tolerability profile. Valneva said its vaccine produced more neutralized antibodies and there was a complete absence of any severe COVID-19 cases.
Even with Monday’s gain, the stock is still trading below its highs of September when the U.K. government terminated a supply agreement. Valneva said it will continue to work closely with the U.K. Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to complete its rolling submission for approal, and is preparing to start the process to get conditional approval with the European Medicines Agency.
Dynavax Technologies /zigman2/quotes/203017054/composite DVAX +0.82% rose 8% in premarket trade as the Valneva vaccine uses Dynavax’s CpG 1018 adjuvant.
European stocks more broadly traded lower after China reported slower-than-forecast third-quarter growth of 4.9% year-over-year.
Luxury-goods makers Kering /zigman2/quotes/204653408/delayed FR:KER +0.59% and LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton /zigman2/quotes/201350549/delayed FR:MC +0.86% declined after the disappointing Chinese numbers, sending the Stoxx Europe 600 /zigman2/quotes/210599654/delayed XX:SXXP +1.38% down 0.5% to 467.28.
Of the major regional indexes, the German DAX /zigman2/quotes/210597999/delayed DX:DAX +1.44% declined 0.6%, the French CAC 40 /zigman2/quotes/210597958/delayed FR:PX1 +1.24% declined 0.7% and the U.K. FTSE 100 /zigman2/quotes/210598409/delayed UK:UKX +0.98% declined 0.2%.
One advancer was THG /zigman2/quotes/221121045/delayed UK:THG +2.80% , rising 9% after the SoftBank-backed retailer said it will remove its special share rights. THG shares are now up 19% from last week, but down 60% for the year, on concerns that SoftBank /zigman2/quotes/207303954/delayed JP:9984 -0.30% won’t trigger an option to buy a THG division.
The yield on the 2-year gilt /zigman2/quotes/211347169/realtime BX:TMBMKGB-02Y +4.48% jumped 12 basis points, to 0.70%, after Bank of England Gov. Andrew Bailey said on Sunday the central bank will have to act to curb inflationary pressure.
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