Stock Alert: Coronavirus Panic Propels NanoViricides Shares In After Hours

(RTTNews) - Shares of NanoViricides Inc. (NNVC) spiked more than 46% in after hours trading on March 5, after closing regular trade at $8.08, up 15 cents of 1.89%. The stock has been trading between $1.27 and $19.20 in the past one year. Trading volume stood at 827K versus an average volume of 4.02 million shares.

As recently as on Feb. 24, the company, in its Q2 filing, stated that it has already found broad-spectrum virus-binding ligands that are expected to attack the coronavirus at the same points that the virus uses to bind to its cognate cellular receptor, namely ACE-2 (angiotensin converting enzyme type 2), using molecular modeling based on known SARS-CoV and ACE2 interactions.

The company intends to perform initial testing of these drug candidates for safety and effectiveness in cell culture studies in its own BSL-2 virology laboratory at its Shelton campus, using low-threat coronavirus strains that have been normally circulating in human population. This is a major development in terms of the rollout of any COVID-19 drug.

NanoViricides has recently been in the news for being one of the few biotechnology companies that is actively working on developing a drug that can treat COVID-19, the coronaviral pneumonia disease which is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, aka, 2019-nCoV, also known as the Wuhan coronavirus.