In breaking news this morning, the World Health Organization (WHO) granted an emergency-use listing (EUL) to India’s Bharat Biotech for its Covaxin Covid-19 vaccine. This is good news for the biopharma producer who has been working hard to gain this authorization in India since May 2021. For its U.S. partner, Ocugen (NASDAQ:OCGN), this development also represents a significant step forward. This news will surely leave OCGN stock in the spotlight.
OCGN Stock: What’s Happening
The past week has been marked by OCGN stock rising and falling as further regulatory news from the WHO rolls out. Today saw it rise by 11% in pre-market trading and since markets opened, it’s spiked by 24%. On a roller coaster ride, shares are now down 6%.
Despite the downticks, the past week’s performance has been very solid for OCGN stock. As of this writing, it is up 50% for the past five days and over 100% for the month. For a company that’s drawn as much criticism as Ocugen, these numbers are impressive.
A Twitter Trend
As Ocugen has made headlines for the past week, it has managed to garner meme stock status. It will also benefit today, though, from the momentum generated by scientific communities due to its contributions to the vaccine race. WHO Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan has been retweeting updates from the organization on Covaxin all morning. So far, the results look very good.
🆕 WHO has granted emergency use listing (EUL) to #COVAXIN® (developed by Bharat Biotech), adding to a growing portfolio of vaccines validated by WHO for the prevention of #COVID19. pic.twitter.com/dp2A1knGtT
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) November 3, 2021
While more vaccine producers are gaining market share in the U.S. and Canada as vaccination rates rise, countries around the world, including India, are still working diligently to acquire and administer doses. As a press release from Ocugen puts it, Covaxin is gaining the EUL authorization it needs just in time.
What Comes Next for Ocugen?
There’s no question that OCGN stock is one of the top names of the day. Its future, however, remains uncertain. InvestorPlace contributor Alex Sirois has raised concerns about the stock, noting that this international approval won’t do much for Ocugen in the short term as it stands to primarily benefit when Covaxin gains authorization in the U.S. As his colleague Larry Ramer notes, there is no immediate reason to suggest that the U.S. has any interest in Covaxin.
The bottom line is that this news from India stands to benefit Bharat Biotech considerably more than its international partner. While it will boost prices in the short term, OCGN stock remains questionable at best. That being said, it is worth keeping a close eye on here.
On the date of publication, Samuel O’Brient 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.
