Shares of COVID-19 vaccine makers including Moderna (MRNA) and Novavax (NVAX) surged on Monday after a report that the Biden administration plans to urge Americans to get vaccinated for the fall as new subvariants emerge and as the cases increase.
Key Points to Remember
- Shares of COVID-19 vaccine makers including Moderna, BioNTech and Novavax surged on Monday after a report that the Biden administration plans to urge Americans to get vaccinated.
- New subvariants of COVID-19 have emerged in recent months, prompting vaccine makers to roll out the latest recalls targeting strains of the virus.
- Despite Monday's gains, stocks of three vaccine makers were down for the year so far.
Moderna shares jumped 9.3 %, while the American certificates of deposit (ADR) of BioNTech, which develops vaccines jointly with Pfizer (PFE), increased by 6.5%. Shares of Novavax, which offers a protein-based COVID-19 vaccine, soared 18% before giving back some gains, and finished 13% higher.
As new subvariants of COVID-19 emerge and cases increase, vaccine makers have researched and developed vaccines that target them. In June, the US Food and Drug Administration recommended that the final booster shots target strain XBB.1.5, a subvariant of omicron.
More recently, the EG.5 strain, better known as "Eris" became the dominant strain nationally. World Health Organization officials have also identified a strain labeled BA.2.86.
Despite Monday's gains, the Shares of COVID-19 vaccine makers are down sharply so far this year. BioNTech's ADRs and Novavax shares are down about 20% year-to-date, while Moderna's shares are down 37%. They underperformed the broader S&P 500 healthcare sector, which fell about 2% over the same period.
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Source: investopedia.com
