Vaxx hopes spike Moderna stock
Company to join the Nasdaq-100 index
Moderna stock was sent soaring on the news of positive results from a Phase 1 study of its coronavirus vaccine candidate, announced late Tuesday, the same day the company said it would join the Nasdaq-100 index.
The stocked spiked as the market opened Wednesday morning, trading as high as $87.83, up from the previous day’s close at $74.04.
The stock ended around $80 a share by market close Wednesday afternoon, an increase of about 5 points and nearly 7%.
Moderna announced it will join the Nasdaq-100 Index, which includes the top 100 nonfinancial companies listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market, prior to market open on July 20.
Moderna’s common stock began trading on The Nasdaq Global Select Market on Dec. 7, 2018.
The stock has more than quadrupled since the company announced it had shipped the vaccine for a Phase 1 study on Feb. 24 when it traded for $18.54, jumping to $23.76 on Feb. 25.
Moderna’s 52-week high is $88.35 and the low is $11.54.
The Phase 1 data published in the New England Journal of Medicine showed participants dosed with the Moderna vaccine in March had an immune response similar to, or better than, recovered coronavirus patients.
The vaccine “induced anti– SARS-CoV-2 immune responses in all participants, and no trial-limiting safety concerns were identified. These findings support further development of this vaccine,” stated the study’s conclusion in NEJM.
The durability of the immune response that was triggered still has not been evaluated and the participants will be monitored for one year with scheduled blood collections throughout.
The company is set to launch a 30,000 participant Phase 3 study at the end of the month and the company has already completed manufacturing the vaccine needed for that large trial.
Moderna is still on track to deliver 500 million doses a year, the company said Tuesday, and possibly one billion doses a year in 2021.
Although Moderna has moved quickly on its vaccine progress, there are still many steps to go before the candidate is cleared for widespread use.
Under normal circumstance, the jump from Phase 3 trials to regulatory review can last up to two years, according to an an editorial also published Tuesday in NEJM.