What happened Shares of the clinical-stage vaccine companies Inovio Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: INO) and Novavax (NASDAQ: NVAX) both jumped by as much as 18% in pre-market trading Monday morning. Inovio and Novavax appear to be getting a major boost this morning from the latest COVID-19 statistics, which seem to indicate that the outbreak is quickly turning into a global pandemic. The big-ticket item is that Iran, Italy, and South Korea all saw a sharp rise in the number of COVID-19 cases over the weekend. Afghanistan, Egypt, and Lebanon also reported their first COVID-19 infections recently, implying that the virus is starting to spread across the globe. Image source: Getty Images. So what Investors are clearly banking on Inovio or Novavax being among the first companies to develop an effective vaccine against this deadly respiratory virus. Inovio, for its part, previously announced that it has an experimental vaccine already designed and ready for human trials. Novavax hasn't said much about its COVID-19 prospect, but it also stated near the beginning of the outbreak that it had a promising vaccine in the works as well. Both companies noted that they could kick off clinical trials for their respective COVID-19 vaccine candidates within just a matter of months. Now what Is this viral outbreak a compelling buying opportunity? In short, there's no logical reason to buy either of these developmental biotech stocks on this news. Any experimental vaccine will likely take years to trial and subsequently gain marketing approval. By then, the COVID-19 threat will most likely have petered out. 10 stocks we like better than NovavaxWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Novavax wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. See the 10 stocks *Stock Advisor returns as of December 1, 2019 George Budwell has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Source