Immunome (NASDAQ:IMNM) stock is rocketing higher on Thursday after announcing a major update concerning its vaccine research for the novel coronavirus.
According to a news release from the company, it has identified antibodies that are capable of neutralizing several variants of the novel coronavirus. That includes the South African Variant, which is capable of reducing the effectiveness of vaccines and antibody therapies.
Immunome says that this recent discovery is part of its ongoing efforts to develop an antibody cocktail to treat the novel coronavirus. This has it seeking out antibodies that target spike and non-spike proteins.
Immunome notes that its recent progress comes from the $13.3 million grant it was awarded back in July 2020. This came from the U.S. Department of Defense’s Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense.
Purnanand Sarma, PhD, CEO of Immunome, said this about the news sending IMNM stock up today.
“Our findings underscore the power of Immunome’s discovery engine to quickly identify antibodies that are broadly effective against SARS-CoV-2 and its variants. Of note, Immunome’s discovery engine has identified antibodies that bind to conserved epitopes of SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 spike, as well as to other non-spike targets. We believe that our comprehensive strategy could combat the negative impact of escape mutants. We are encouraged by these results and plan to continue development efforts on these antibodies.”
IMNM caught the interest of investors today with this news. As a result, more than 1.9 million shares of the stock have changed hands. To put that in perspective, the company’s daily average trading volume is roughly 86,000 shares.
IMNM stock was up 80% as of Thursday morning.
On the date of publication, William White did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.
