Shares of Ocugen Inc. OCGN, +13.36% surged 6.4% in morning trading Thursday, to bounce off a near 11-month low, after the biopharmaceutical company said its partner, Bharat Biotech, reported positive results from a trial of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate. In a Phase 2/3 trial in India, the company said Covaxin demonstrated in children 2-to-18 years old a “robust” neutralizing antibody response and “favorable” safety profile on the pre-print server. And when using a two-dose regimen given 28-days apart showed a greater than 93% reduction in severe disease, similar to data from a previous Phase 3 study in adults. “These data represent the first positive vaccine data in children as young as two years of age and come at an important time as COVID-19 infections are seeing a spike across the globe,” said Ocugen Chief Executive Shankar Musunuri. Ocugen’s stock, which had closed Wednesday at the lowest price since Feb. 4, has still soared 154.6% year to date, while the iShares Biotechnology ETF IBB, +1.29% has edged up 1.9% and the S&P 500 SPX, +0.23% has advanced 28.0%.
