Why Dynavax Technologies Corporation Stock Is Slumping Today

Dynavax Technologies Corporation's (NASDAQ: DVAX) stock is slumping this morning after the FDA released the briefing documents for the company's experimental hepatitis B vaccine known as Heplisav-B. The vaccine is scheduled to be reviewed by a panel of experts this Friday. While the FDA isn't bound by the recommendation of the panel, it typically goes along with their guidance. As of 10:24 a.m. EDT, Dynavax's shares had fallen by as much as 17.6% on heavy volume, but they have since rallied, with the biotech's stock down only 1% at the time of writing.

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The issue investors appear to be keying in on this morning is the noted imbalance in the number of deaths and cardiac events in the Heplisav-B trial arm, relative to the comparator vaccine, GlaxoSmithKline's Engerix-B. Put simply, Heplisav-B might be a riskier vaccine than the current standard of care, although the number of adverse events were too low to draw any firm conclusions, according to the FDA's own briefing document.

Source: Fool.com