The markets have regained renewed optimism and at yesterday’s close, the major indices were in the green. The S&P 500 closed higher by 0.65%, the Dow by 0.61%, and the NASDAQ by 0.71%. This follows increased hopes that there will be a COVID-19 vaccine by the end of the year. According to research by Deutsche Bank on the market sentiment of 500 market professionals worldwide, 56% of them are positive that there will be a vaccine before the end of 2020.  The sentiment is given weight by promising vaccine news from Oxford University.  The optimism around the markets has seen the value of biotech stocks working on COVID-19 vaccines rally. Most of the action in pre-market trading is happening around the following stocks.

1. Immuron Limited [NASDAQ:IMRN]

Immuron Limited [IMRN] is one of the top performers in pre-market trading and is up by 111.91% at the time of writing. This comes after IMRN announced that its IMM-124E, used for manufacturing digestive supplements, has been shown to have neutralizing activity against severe acute respiratory coronavirus-2.  Commenting on this development, the company CEO Dr. Dave Gentry stated that, they know SARS-CoV-2 is the cause of the influenza-like disease that affects the lungs. He added that the virus had been detected in anal swab tests even after in nasal-swab turned positive. This he added, offers leeway for an oral therapeutic approach that inhibits the virus in the gastrointestinal tract. As the world rushes to find a way out of the pandemic, this IMRN will continue to draw investor attention.

2. Heat Biologics Inc [NASDAQ:HTBX]

This is another active stock that is building upon its momentum in yesterday’s session. Heat Biologics Inc [HTBX] rallied to close with a gain of 47.15% yesterday and is up by 5% in pre-market trading. This comes after the company announced that the first patient had been treated in a phase-1 clinical trial test for PTX-35. This is the company’s antibody candidate for treating advanced solid tumors. HTBX stated that the trial would include 30 patients and would be testing for dosage and safety.  The trial is also well capitalized and has the support of a $15.2 million grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas.  CEO, Jeff Wolf, stated that this trial was a first step towards advancing the clinical development of PTX-35. This is likely to play into this HTBX stock’s price action when the markets open.

3. Miragen Therapeutics [NASDAQ:MGEN]

Miragen Therapeutics [MGEN] is another big gainer in pre-market trading and is up by 21.57%. While there is no major news around MGEN at the moment, the stock is among those in the race for a COVID-19 vaccine.  A month ago, the company announced that it had received encouraging pre-clinical study for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.