These 3 small pharmaceutical stocks are surging after announcing work on a coronavirus vaccine

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These 3 small pharmaceutical stocks are surging after announcing work on a coronavirus vaccine

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china wuhan masks virus

Amid a rout that's sending global stocks and oil prices lower, three pharmaceutical companies are seeing outsized gains because of China's coronavirus outbreak.

Shares of Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Moderna Inc., and Novavax Inc. all surged Monday as China's coronavirus spread further. The companies continued rallies sparked on Thursday, when the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, a public-private nonprofit based in Norway, announced that it will provide as much as $11 million in funding to the three companies to develop new vaccines against the Wuhan strain.

In addition to the three pharmaceutical companies, the University of Queensland in Australia is also working on a vaccine for the coronavirus and received funding from the CEPI.

So far the virus, which was first identified in Wuhan, China, has killed 81 people and infected more than 2,700 worldwide, prompting fear of a global outbreak. There are no current vaccines or treatments for the virus, called nCoV-2019, which is similar to the virus that caused severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS. That virus incited global panic amid a 2003 outbreak.

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Some of the experimental vaccines the pharma companies are working on to target the Wuhan virus could be ready for human testing in a few months, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. Approval for more widespread use, however, will take much longer, according to the report.

Here's how much each company gained Monday, and how much each stock has rallied since Thursday, ranked from lowest to highest gain.

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1. Inovio Pharmaceuticals

1. Inovio Pharmaceuticals

Ticker: INO

Stock gains Monday: as much as 40%

Stock gains since Thursday, January 23: as much as 55%

2. Novavax Inc.

2. Novavax Inc.

Ticker: NVAX

Stock gains Monday: as much as 19%

Stock gains since Thursday, January 23: as much as 22%

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3. Moderna Inc.

3. Moderna Inc.

Ticker: MRNA

Stock gains Monday: as much as 9%

Stock gains since Thursday, January 23: as much as 8%