Shares of Dynavax Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ: DVAX) saw a handy gain early on Wednesday after the company announced that it received a recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).
Essentially the ACIP voted unanimously in favor of including Heplisav-B on its list of recommended products for use to vaccinate adults against hepatitis B. Heplisav-B was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in November 2017 for the prevention of infection caused by all known subtypes of hepatitis B virus in adults age 18 years and older.
Ultimately, the receipt of the ACIP recommendation is a key step in providing patients with broad access to Heplisav-B. Medical policies of many insurance plans and institutions require ACIP recommendation before a vaccine is covered or available to their patients.
Dynavax commercially launched Heplisav-B in the United States in January 2018, and it announced Tuesday that the field sales team will begin actively selling Heplisav-B next week.
Eddie Gray, CEO of Dynavax, commented:
With the ACIP’s recommendation, HEPLISAV-B has cleared an important milestone needed to position Dynavax to meet our long-term commercial goals. Additionally, this recognition emphasizes the important role of HEPLISAV-B in the prevention of hepatitis B infection in adults, reinforcing our belief that our unique two-dose vaccine with demonstrated higher rates of protection versus ENGERIX-B, and a safety profile similar to three-dose vaccines, will become the new standard of care for adults.
Shares of Dynavax were last seen up about 2% at $17.65 on Wednesday, with a consensus analyst price target of $29.00 and a 52-week range of $3.90 to $24.45.
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