Ocugen, Inc. (NASDAQ:OCGN) shares rose $1.46, or 15.2% to $11.09 Monday.
The company, based out of Malvern, Pa., said its COVID-19 vaccine partner, India-based Bharat Biotech International Ltd., will charge as much as double its main rival AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) for its vaccines in India.
India's Ministry of Health and Welfare recorded 346,786 new COVID-19 cases in the country on Saturday, shattering its own tally of the most number of daily new infections by any country for the second day in a row.
India has averaged over 331,000 new infections daily over the past three days in contrast to less than 15,000 cases in early March, data from Johns Hopkins University indicate.According to experts, a new virulent strain with a so-called double-mutation is playing a role in the country’s second wave that has left the country’s health-care system under severe strain and led to a rising number of COVID-related deaths.
The variant with two mutations - the E484Q and L452R - was first detected by an Indian scientist last year, and its prevalence has risen to as many as 52% of blood samples sequenced in April compared to virtually zero in January, India’s Mint newspaper reported citing outbreak.info.The new strain named B.1.617.
Ocugen made headlines last week on word it had entered into definitive agreements with healthcare-focused institutional investors for the sale of an aggregate of 10 million shares of its common stock at a purchase price of $10 per share in a registered direct offering. The offering is expected to close soon subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.
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