SIGA Technologies Shares Higher After FDA Approves IV TPOXX for Smallpox

By Michael Dabaie

SIGA Technologies Inc. shares were up 31% to $9.67 premarket Thursday after the commercial-stage pharmaceutical company said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the intravenous formulation of TPOXX for smallpox.

The IV formulation is an option for those who are unable to swallow the oral capsules of TPOXX, the company said.

The oral formulation of TPOXX, or tecovirimat, is approved in the U.S., Canada and Europe for the treatment of smallpox. The European approval also includes the treatment of monkeypox, cowpox and complications from immunization.

Dozens of confirmed or suspected cases of monkeypox have recently been detected in the U.S., U.K., Spain and Portugal. The World Health Organization says viral disease monkeypox occurs mainly in tropical rainforest areas of Central and West Africa and is occasionally exported to other regions. Monkeypox is mostly transmitted to people from wild animals like rodents and primates, but human-to-human transmission occurs, World Health Organization says.

SIGA last week said the U.S. Department of Defense awarded it a contract for the procurement of up to about $7.5 million of oral TPOXX.

Write to Michael Dabaie at michael.dabaie@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 19, 2022 08:58 ET (12:58 GMT)

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