Moderna enters monkeypox vaccine development
Maddie Meyer/Getty Images News

The COVID-19 vaccine maker Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) announces that the company is currently investigating potential monkeypox vaccines at a pre-clinical stage.
The mRNA-based vaccine developer currently runs 46 programs in its pipeline, with 34 vaccines in the development.
The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotech made the statement at a time when the rare viral disease has made a comeback in the non-endemic countries outside Africa.
On Monday, five more countries reported their first confirmed monkeypox infections taking the total number of countries to report the outbreak to 17 this year.
As of Saturday, The World Health Organization reported at least 92 laboratory-confirmed cases between May 13 and May 21 from 12 countries, including one infection in the U.S. Another 28 suspected cases were under investigation.
With clinical solutions against smallpox offering cross-protection against monkeypox, the developers of vaccines and therapeutics against the related virus surged last week.
However, the notable gainers SIGA Technologies (SIGA), Chimerix (CMRX), GeoVax Labs (GOVX), Bavarian Nordic (OTCPK:BVNKF) (OTCPK:BVNRY), and Emergent Biosolutions (EBS) are trading lower in the pre-market on Tuesday, while Moderna (MRNA) has lost ~2%.
Read more about the symptoms, transmission, and mortality rates of monkeypox.