These Plasma Stocks Are Surging After FDA's Convalescent EUA

Health care stocks levered to blood collection and sampling, and plasma therapy biopharma companies are getting a big boost Monday after the FDA issued emergency use authorization for the use of investigational convalescent plasma for the treatment of COVID-19 in hospitalized patients.

The EUA, according to the FDA, will allow the distribution of COVID-19 convalescent plasma in the U.S. and its administration by health care providers.

"This is a powerful therapy that transfuses very, very strong antibodies from the blood of recovered patients to help treat patients battling a current infection. It's had an incredible rate of success," President Trump said in his Aug. 23 press briefing. "Today's action will dramatically expand access to this treatment."

Although opinions are divided about the effectiveness of the therapy, given views among some quarters that the FDA had buckled under political pressure in according authorization, the following stocks are skyrocketing on the announcement.

Sonnet BioTherapeutics Holdings SONN is a biopharma focusing on immunomodulatory therapies, with its pipeline consisting of five cytokine-derived candidates. Its fully human albumin-binding therapies bind to and attach to patient's endogenous human serum albumin for transport to target tissues.

ADMA Biologics Inc ADMA is a commercial-stage biopharma that is engaged in the manufacturing, marketing and developing of specialty plasma-derived biologics. In May, the company announced it has commenced the collection of convalescent plasma from individuals who have recovered from COVID-19 to be used to produce an immune globulin to potentially help infected patients with COVID-19.

Cerus Corporation CERS is a global bloods products company, ensuring world blood supply. The company's INTERCEPT Blood Systems was found to inactivate SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent for COVID-19, in plasma components, according to a study conducted at the King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah Saudi Arabia. This system is intended to inactivate ex-vivo pathogens of whole-blood derived plasma and apheresis plasma.

Liminal BioSciences Inc LMNL, a clinical-stage biopharma, announced in July it has joined the CoVIg-19 Plasma Alliance to contribute to the acceleration of the development of a potential new therapy for COVID-19.

The CoVIg-19 Plasma Alliance was set up to combine efforts to collect convalescent plasma to develop a potential plasma-derived COVID-19 therapy.

Kamada Ltd. KMDA is a plasma-derived biopharmaceutical company based out of Israel. It's currently developing plasma-derived immunoglobulin product as a potential treatment for COVID-19. The company said it has completed the manufacturing of the initial batches of its product earlier this month and has enrolled the first patient in the Phase 1/2 open label clinical trial in Israel.

Grifols SA - ADR ADR Class B GRFS is a Spanish company that does business in bioscience, diagnostic products and bio supplies. It operates a network of plasma donation centers worldwide, and transforms the collected plasma into essential medicines.

In July, the company said it has delivered first manufactured batches of its anti-SARS-CoV-2 hyperimmune globulin for clinical trials.

Thermogenesis Holdings Inc THMO is involved in automated cell processing tools and services in the cell and gene therapy field. In April, the company's 19%-owned joint venture, ImmuneCyte, acquired worldwide intellectual property for the development of fully human antibody therapeutics for COVID-19, including four high-affinity monoclonal antibody drug candidates against SARS-CoV-2 and tools for screening and quantifying efficacy of such neutralizing antibodies.

T2 Biosystems Inc TTOO focuses on rapid detection of sepsis-causing pathogens. The company has developed a molecular diagnostic test, named T2SARS-CoV-2 Panel, which can be used to identify acute COVID-19 infections, and optimize outcomes for patients under intensive care.

In pre-market trading Monday:

• Sonnet shares were jumping 57.03% to $4.13.
• ADMA Biologics was soaring 41.67% to $3.57.
• Cerus was advancing 15.42% to $8.16.
• Liminal Bioscience shares were skyrocketing 49.27% to $20.15.
• Kamada shares were jumping 23% to $12.30.
• Thermogenesis was seen moving up 20.81% to $4.47.
• T2 Biosystems was gaining 14.48% to $1.66.