Swine Flu Vaccine News Back From the Dead

Vical shares surged by 22% yesterday after a safety board gave positive reviews to the company's Allovectin-7 melanoma drug, and recommended that testing continue. This morning, shares are pushing higher in the pre-market after the company confirmed the advantages of its DNA-based vaccine production platform based on response to the pandemic swine flu virus.

In a press release, Vical said that pilot lot production and initial animal testing of its H1N1 vaccine was completed before conventional vaccine manufacturers even received the seed virus needed to begin production. While swine flu hype has subsided significantly since the fall, a move towards more efficient vaccine production could be game changing during future pandemic outbreaks. Of course, regulatory approval will likely be required on a case-by-case basis.

As a whole, the Swine and Bird Flu Stocks Index has fallen substantially since the peak of H1N1 hysteria. The Index is currently trailing the S&P 500 by -14% over the last month.

Vical is one of six components to slip by -20% over the last three months. During that period, Hemispherx Biopharma (AMEX: HEB - News) is the worst performer, down by more than -70%, while Novavax (NASDAQ: NVAX - News), Inovio Biomedical (AMEX: INO - News), and Generex Biotechnology (NASDAQ: GNBT - News) have all slipped by -24% or more.

Pharmaceutical giants Novartis (NYSE: NVS - News), GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK - News), and Roche (OTC: RHHBY - News) are among the top performers over the last three months, as many of the more speculative swine flu plays ran out of steam.

On a one-month basis, Vical and Generex are among the segment's leaders, ahead by over 13% as of Monday's close. Dynavax Technologies (NASDAQ: DVAX - News) and large-cap player Baxter International (NYSE: BAX - News) are both up by more than 7% for the period.

As of this writing, the Swine and Bird Flu Stocks Index is the worst-performing tickerspy Index over the last month, down by -11.2%. By comparison, the second-worst Casino Stocks Index is off by less than -5% for the period.

These stocks will certainly be fun to watch in the case of any future pandemic outbreaks, and in the meantime investors can expect to see some individual pops based on the development of more stable businesses. Investors can track the Swine and Bird Flu Stocks Index for performance trends and a suite of other metrics at tickerspy.com.