AUS
NZ
UK
CA
USA
IND
The UK government has stepped up its efforts to develop a vaccine for the deadly naval coronavirus. A few days back, Health Minister Matt Hancock had said they would conduct clinical trials of a new coronavirus vaccine in the UK, which the scientists at the University of Oxford have created, the first coronavirus vaccine of the nation. The UK Health Minister has pledged £20 million of public money for the creation of dedicated vaccine programs. Imperial College London is yet another college which making all efforts to develop a Covid-19 vaccine.
Apart from the government’s efforts to create a vaccination that could help people recover from the disease, various UK based Biotechnology companies are also working in various areas to get a breakthrough in creating vaccine and make it available for the public use, work is also going on in other areas of medical science, which could help the medical staff to treat people and give them better care. The following are five such companies in the UK, their overview and the way they are trying to develop a treatment or a vaccine to fight Covid-19 (Novel Coronavirus).
Abcam Plc
Abcam Plc (LON:ABC) is a UK based Biotechnology company. The company is currently in the process of boosting its supply chain and manufacturing flexibility to support increased demand for existing products used for SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 research, and it has decided to join more than 20 collaborations across various countries such as the UK, US, and China focused on SARS-CoV-2 drug and vaccine development. The company is also contributing various resources to the NHS staff and the frontline workers in the fight against Covid-19.
Abcam Plc Stock Price Performance
As on 28th April 2020, at 12:30 P.M (Greenwich Mean Time), when this report was being written, the Abcam Plc stock was trading at a price of GBX 1262.00 per stock on the London Stock Exchange market, a decline in the value of 1.25 per cent or GBX 16.00 per stock, as opposed to the price of the stock on the previous trading day, which had been reported to be at GBX 1278.00 per share. Abcam Plc's market capitalisation was GBP 2.748 billion at the time of reporting.
The company’s stock has yielded a positive return of approximately 14.10 per cent in the last one month since March 28, 2020. It has though yielded a negative return of around 8.50 per cent in the last three months since October 28, 2019. The stock price of the company has yielded a positive return of approximately 12.10 per cent in the last six months since 28th October 2019.
At the time of writing, the beta of the firm's stock was recorded at a value of 0.73 pointing towards the fact that the company’s price movement is less volatile relative to the change in the value of the comparative benchmark index.
Avacta Group
Avacta Group (LON:AVCT) is a Biotechnology firm that engages in the development of Biotherapeutics. A couple of weeks back, the company issued a press release to announce that it had entered into a collaboration with Cytiva to develop and produce an Affimer-based point-of-care rapid test that would be used for the purpose of detecting the threat of Covid-19 amongst areas with high population density and a large population. The development of this test could prove to be of utmost importance in the fight against Covid-19.
Avacta Group Plc Stock Price Performance
As on 28th April 2020, at 12:30 P.M (Greenwich Mean Time), when this report was being written, the Avacta Group Plc stock was trading at a price of GBX 108.50 per stock on the London Stock Exchange market, an increase in the value of 8.50 per cent or GBX 8.50 per stock, as opposed to the price of the stock on the previous trading day, which had been reported to be at GBX 100.00 per share. Avacta Group Plc's market capitalisation was GBP 206.96 million at the time of reporting.
The company’s stock has yielded a positive return of approximately 349.40 per cent in the last one month since March 28, 2020. It has also yielded a positive return of around 393.80 per cent in the last three months since October 28, 2019. The stock price of the company has yielded a positive return of approximately 525.00 per cent in the last six months since 28th October 2019.
At the time of writing, the beta of the firm's stock was recorded at a value of 1.74 pointing towards the fact that the company’s price movement is more volatile relative to the change in the value of the comparative benchmark index.
Silence Therapeutics Plc
Silence Therapeutics Plc (LON:SLN) is the UK based Biotechnology company. The company recently announced that in a bid to fight the covid-19 pandemic, it had repurposed equipment at its Berlin site to make critical reagents for coronavirus diagnostic test kits which are in scarcity presently. The company has also reported that it will sell these kits at the cost price only.
Silence Therapeutics Plc Stock Price Performance
As on 28th April 2020, at 12:35 P.M (Greenwich Mean Time), when this report was being written, the Silence Therapeutics Plc stock was trading at a price of GBX 420.00 per stock on the London Stock Exchange market, unchanged as of the price of the stock on the previous trading day. Silence Therapeutics Plc's market capitalisation was GBP 346.03 million at the time of reporting.
The company’s stock has yielded a negative return of approximately 13.60 per cent in the last one month since March 28, 2020. Though, it has yielded a positive return of around 12.30 per cent in the last three months since October 28, 2019. The stock price of the company has also yielded a positive return of approximately 28.00 per cent in the last six months since 28th October 2019.
At the time of writing, the beta of the firm's stock was recorded at a value of 0.40 pointing towards the fact that the company’s price movement is less volatile relative to the change in the value of the comparative benchmark index.
Oxford Biomedica Plc
Oxford Biomedica Plc (LON:OXB) is a UK based Biotech firm; it is part of the consortium formed to quickly develop a prospective COVID-19 vaccine candidate expected to become the UK's 1st COVID-19 vaccination in clinical trials.
Oxford Biomedica Plc Stock Price Performance
As on 28th April 2020, at 12:30 P.M (Greenwich Mean Time), when this report was being written, the Oxford Biomedica Plc stock was trading at a price of GBX 724.00 per stock on the London Stock Exchange market, a decline in the value of 0.82 per cent or GBX 6.00 per stock, as opposed to the price of the stock on the previous trading day, which had been reported to be at GBX 730.00 per share. Oxford Biomedica Plc's market capitalisation was GBP 558.67 million at the time of reporting.
The company’s stock has yielded a positive return of approximately 35.20 per cent in the last one month since March 28, 2020. It has also yielded a positive return of around 13.90 per cent in the last three months since October 28, 2019. The stock price of the company has yielded a positive return of approximately 30.40 per cent in the last six months since 28th October 2019.
At the time of writing, the beta of the firm's stock was recorded at a value of 0.35 pointing towards the fact that the company’s price movement is less volatile relative to the change in the value of the comparative benchmark index.
Genus Plc
Genus Plc (LON:GNS) is a company that develops genetics based technologies. The company is currently trying to develop a treatment for Covid-19 using the Plasma technology out of its Research and Development laboratories in Brazil.
Genus Plc Stock Price Performance
As on 28th April 2020, at 12:30 P.M (Greenwich Mean Time), when this report was being written, the Genus Plc stock was trading at a price of GBX 3670.00 per stock on the London Stock Exchange market, an increase in the value of 0.11 per cent or GBX 4.00 per stock, as opposed to the price of the stock on the previous trading day, which had been reported to be at GBX 3666.00 per share. Genus Plc's market capitalisation was GBP 2.37 billion at the time of reporting.
The company’s stock has yielded a positive return of approximately 14.60 per cent in the last one month since March 28, 2020. It has also yielded a positive return of around 19.20 per cent in the last three months since October 28, 2019. The stock price of the company has yielded a positive return of approximately 28.60 per cent in the last six months since 28th October 2019.
At the time of writing, the beta of the firm's stock was recorded at a value of 0.54 pointing towards the fact that the company’s price movement is less volatile relative to the change in the value of the comparative benchmark index.
Comparative Share Price Chart of ABC, AVCT, SLN, OXB and GNS
(Source: Thomson Reuters) Daily Chart as on 28 – April - 2020, before the closing of the London Stock Exchange Market
