by Ian Cooper

The World Health Organization (WHO) just declared Mpox a global public health emergency for the second time following an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo to other countries.

As noted by CNBC, “Health officials are raising concerns because many of the new cases in Africa have been identified as a new and deadlier strain, known as clade 1b. The new strain has also been confirmed outside of the continent, in Thailand.”

That being said, investors may want to jump into Mpox testing and treatment stocks, such as:

Virax Biolabs (VRAX)

VRAX just signed a distribution pact for Mpox diagnostic kits in Europe and the Middle East.

“The RT PCR Mpox virus detection kits are approved for sale in Europe and also authorized by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, the product regulatory agency for the United Kingdom. These tests perform with a sensitivity of 96.7% and specificity of 93.72%, with the ability to deliver results in under 70 minutes,” as noted by Benzinga.

Emergent BioSolutions (EBS)

EBS is also pushing higher on the Mpox story. 

“Emergent BioSolutions’ ACAM2000 vaccine, approved for smallpox, is currently under FDA review as a mode of immunization against the mpox virus. The company has also responded to the WHO’s request for information for a potential emergency listing,” noted Seeking Alpha.

Applied DNA Sciences (APDN)

APDN just announced that its clinical laboratory subsidiary, Applied DNA Clinical Labs, submitted a validation package to the New York State Department of Health in support of an expansion of the permitted use of its Linea Mpox Virus 1.0 Assay to include both mpox clade I and clade II, as noted in a company press release.