Shares of Acturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc. were down 2.3% in trading on Wednesday after the company said two doses of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine had an efficacy rate of 55% against infection. The Phase 3 clinical trial evaluated the vaccine in 19,000 people in Vietnam; it also found that the investigational shot had an efficacy rate of 95% against severe disease. The “results are net positive given they appear to meet FDA’s minimum requirement for EUA…in a population that was likely primarily exposed to the omicron variant,” Raymond James analyst Steven Seedhouse told investors on Wednesday. However, he said he doesn’t expect the vaccine to be authorized by the Food and Drug Administration because the trial wasn’t conducted in the U.S. Arcturus shares are down 33.3% this year, while S&P 500 has declined 6.4%.
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