Today, investors in Ocugen (NASDAQ:OCGN) are seeing very nice gains. Currently, shares of OCGN stock have moved more than 9% higher. For this vaccine stock, today’s price action continues what has been a rather volatile year.
Shareholders who have held steady in OCGN stock since the beginning of the year are up more than 300%. That said, since this stock hit its 52-week high, Ocugen is down by about 50%.
Today, it appears investors have another reason to be bullish on this stock. Speculation is once again building around Ocugen’s COVAXIN Covid-19 vaccine.
Let’s dive into the company-specific news taking shares of Ocugen higher today.
OCGN Stock Higher on Vaccine Speculation
Ocugen is the American biotech company partnered with Indian firm Bharat Biotech. Bharat has been very successful in gaining approvals in India for its COVAXIN vaccine. However, regulators in the United States and other countries have been slower to adopt vaccines made outside of Europe and the U.S. This is tricky for Ocugen, which is looking to leverage its commercialization and development rights in U.S. and Canada.
Much of this roadblock has to do with the World Health Organization (WHO) approval process for vaccines.
Today, various reports of a WHO meeting to discuss COVAXIN have sent shares of Ocugen higher. Reportedly, the WHO’s technical advisory group is meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 26 to discuss the Bharat Biotech Covid-19 shot.
According to a tweet from WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan, the meeting on Oct. 26 will see regulators consider COVAXIN as a candidate for an emergency-use listing (EUL).
The technical advisory group will meet on Oct 26th to consider EUL for #Covaxin. @WHO has been working closely with @BharatBiotech to complete the dossier. Our goal is to have a broad portfolio of vaccines approved for emergency use & to expand access to populations everywhere https://t.co/lqQIyqItF9
— Soumya Swaminathan (@doctorsoumya) October 17, 2021
Of course, the fact that a meeting has been set to make a decision on this matter is positive. There’s reason why speculators are growing bullish on OCGN stock today. However, whether U.S. regulators move along with the WHO to approve Covaxin for emergency use remains to be seen. Additionally, investors have been burned by WHO delays in the past. There is no guarantee we get an answer from global regulators on COVAXIN tomorrow.
Accordingly, this is a stock that’s likely to see some significant volatility in the days to come.
On the date of publication, Chris MacDonald did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
