As the perceived threat of the Delta variant continues to grow, vaccine stocks have been steadily increasing in value. For most investors, this isn’t a surprise, as vaccine manufacturers were some of the most volatile stocks back in 2020 when the pandemic first broke out. Since then, shares have continued to rise amidst fresh concerns surrounding this new variant. A number of vaccine makers soared yesterday as health regulators started recommending the treatment to pregnant mothers.
While vaccine approvals for the general public is one thing, health regulators have typically required more safety information and studies before permitting pregnant women to receive treatment, whether that be a vaccine or any other kind of medicine. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that it has just started recommending pregnant women to take the vaccine, saying it did not see any increased risk of miscarriage. This includes vaccines developed by Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA), or Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ).
“COVID-19 vaccination is recommended for all people aged 12 years and older, including people who are pregnant, breastfeeding, trying to get pregnant now, or might become pregnant in the future,” read a statement from the CDC.
Most vaccine stocks jumped on the news, with all three companies seeing mild gains between 2-4% on Thursday. However, the biggest winner in the vaccine sector was Inovio Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: INO), whose shares shot up more than 13.4%. Part of this jump had to do with the news from the CDC. However, Inovio also announced recently that it’s planning a new vaccine trial sometime in September for its flagship treatment, INO-4800.
INO-4800 was one of the first coronavirus vaccines to begin development in 2020. However, the company quickly fell behind larger pharmaceutical companies as it struggled to pull the resources to move on to late-stage trials. Now that Inovio is finally moving on to larger trials, its main area of focus won’t be Europe or America, but rather Latin America, Africa, and Asia.
The last couple of days have seen a slew of vaccine-related news. Moderna recently said that its shot is effective for up to six months against new variants of the virus. However, the company also received some bad news from overseas regulators. Health officials in the EU warned that Moderna’s vaccine could be linked to rare side effects, including allergic skin reactions, as well as a few types of kidney issues.
As virus cases continue to pop up around the world, most traders are anticipating vaccine makers will continue to rise in value. Pfizer shot up to a record high a couple of days ago as new cases continued to spring up in the U.S. However, smaller vaccine makers have been a hit or miss. Inovio is more or less unchanged since the year began. In contrast, Pfizer is up more than 28.3% since January, while Moderna skyrocketed more than 250.3% over that same time period.
Inovio Company Profile
Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc is a United States based biotechnology company that develops active DNA-based immunotherapies and vaccines to treat and prevent cancers and infectious diseases. The company is engaged in gene therapy, where its immunotherapy platform consists of DNA-based immunotherapy and electroporation delivery technologies. – Warrior Trading News
