a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical business specializing in creating, manufacturing, and marketing oral treatments for patients suffering life-threatening viral infections.
Jean Pierre Sommadossi, PhD, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Atea Pharmaceuticals, expressed delight over the recognition. He said, “We are pleased to join the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index as it heightens and expands our profile within the investment community. Inclusion in the index broadens awareness of Atea and its mission to develop safe and effective oral antiviral treatments that address unmet medical needs of patients with life-threatening viral diseases, including COVID-19.”
The NASDAQ Biotechnology Index is designed to monitor the performance of a diversified portfolio of businesses traded on The Nasdaq Stock Market® (Nasdaq®) that are categorized as biotechnology or pharmaceutical based on the Industry Classification Benchmark (ICB). The NASDAQ Biotechnology Index utilizes a modified capitalization-weighted approach to calculate its value. Companies eligible for inclusion in the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index must fulfill a number of criteria, such as a minimum market capitalization, an average daily trading volume, and duration as a publicly traded business. Each year in December, Nasdaq chooses eligible businesses.
Using the firm’s deep expertise in antiviral medication development, nucleos(t)ide chemistry, biology, biochemistry and virology, Atea has developed a patented nucleotide prodrug platform to develop innovative pharmaceutical candidates for treating single stranded ribonucleic acid, or ssRNA, viruses, which frequently cause serious viral infections. Atea is now working on the development of orally available, potent, and selective nucleotide prodrugs for the treatment of difficult-to-treat, harmful viral diseases, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes COVID-19, dengue virus, hepatitis C virus (HCV), and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
