Monday was a pretty good day for traders and investors alike, with most major markets jumping significantly over the course of the day. As it turned out, many companies ended up jumping 30%, 40%, or even more today on positive news surrounding a possible coronavirus vaccine. As it turns out, Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) made news after the company announced the early clinical data for its pivotal COVID-19 vaccine study.
Overall, the growing number of coronavirus cases in the U.S. and Europe was starting to make investors worried. While the ongoing election helped brush this issue to the side for a while, sooner or later, the markets will react negatively once again to these new COVID-19 cases. However, the prospect that a COVID-19 vaccine is coming soon seemed to be enough to comfort these worries.
Pfizer went on to announce that its candidate, known as BNT162, had been effective in the vast majority of patients tested so far, with an overall vaccine efficacy rate of over 90%. With relatively few safety concerns to note, management feels confident that it could end up shipping out a vaccine sometime within the next couple of months, pending final regulatory approval.
“We are reaching this critical milestone in our vaccine development program at a time when the world needs it most with infection rates setting new records, hospitals nearing over-capacity and economies struggling to reopen,” said Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla. “With today’s news, we are a significant step closer to providing people around the world with a much-needed breakthrough to help bring an end to this global health crisis. We look forward to sharing additional efficacy and safety data generated from thousands of participants in the coming weeks.”
While hundreds of vaccine candidates have emerged over the past several months, Pfizer has ended up leading the way in terms of successfully developing and testing a vaccine. While other companies might have had a head start, including some smaller vaccine developers like Inovio, their lack of resources and other issues have seen the large-scale healthcare companies take the lead in terms of the COVID-19 vaccine race.
Shares of Biogen are up around 9% following this announcement. At the same time, this news served a catalyst for the rest of the market as a whole. With a COVID-19 vaccine now quite close on the horizon, the markets reacted to this development with major jumps from companies that were previously hard hit by the pandemic. Some stocks, such as cinema chains like AMC and cruise lines like Carnival, were up 50% and 40%, respectively, over the course of the day. More than anything, investors seem to want the economy to return back to normal, and a potential coronavirus vaccine is seen as one way to help move in that direction.
Pfizer Company Profile
Pfizer is one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical firms, with annual sales over $50 billion. Pfizer also spends a leading amount on research and development, close to $8 billion annually. While Pfizer historically sold many types of healthcare products and chemicals, now, prescription drugs and vaccines account for the majority of sales. – Warrior Trading News
