Covid vaccine stocks Novavax, Moderna and BioNTech surged to a three-month high Friday on growing enthusiasm for an omicron booster campaign in the fall.
The Food and Drug Administration recently asked vaccine makers to tailor their next boosters for the new dominant sub-variants, dubbed B.A.4 and B.A.5. Both are offshoots of the omicron strain. They are more contagious than the first members of the omicron family, according to Yale Medicine.
Companies are aiming to launch their next boosters by October. These will be bivalent vaccines capable of targeting the B.A.4 and B.A.5 sub-variants as well as the ancestral Covid strain. Previously, vaccine makers tested boosters that aim for B.A.1. But as of late June, that sub-variant accounted for no cases in the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.
All together, the expected demand has sent vaccine stocks trending higher. Novavax shares rose 4.1% to 76.12 on today's stock market. Moderna stock jumped 2.2% to 176.23. Shares of BioNTech, Pfizer's partner, advanced 1.3% to 170.13.
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There's no guarantee the U.S. will see massive uptake of the new boosters. About half of eligible people haven't received any boosters targeting the original Covid strain. But these boosters will offer something new — a chance to fend off the new sub-variants.
Though Novavax doesn't yet have an authorized Covid shot in the U.S., experts were impressed with the company's preliminary booster data. In testing, the prototype protected against B.A.1, B.A.2 and B.A.5 when administered at eight months.
In response, vaccine stocks have popped. After hitting a low point in mid-June, Novavax stock has soared nearly 118% as of Friday's close. Moderna stock hit a bottom about the same time and since has surged 52%. BioNTech shares have jumped 45% over the last few weeks.
Follow Allison Gatlin on Twitter at @IBD_AGatlin.
