AZN Stock Up 1% in Pre-market, AstraZeneca Vaccine Found to Be 79% Effective in US with No Safety Issues

AstraZeneca Plc (NASDAQ: AZN) stock was up approximately 1% during Monday’s pre-market to trade around $49.84. The spike has been attributed to news that AstraZeneca (AZN) coronavirus vaccine has been found to be 79% effective in preventing symptomatic illness and 100% effective against severe disease and hospitalization.

Notably, the company noted that the new findings were conducted by an independent body. With the new findings, AstraZeneca anticipates the vaccine to continue shipping in different countries to combat the coronavirus spread.

The results were based on 32,449 participants from a Phase 3 trial. “These results add to the growing body of evidence that shows this vaccine is well tolerated and highly effective against all severities of COVID-19 and across all age groups,” Mene Pangalos, executive vice president of BioPharmaceuticals R&D at AstraZeneca, said in a statement. “We are confident this vaccine can play an important role in protecting millions of people worldwide against this lethal virus,” Pangalos said.

AstraZeneca Vaccine and AZN Stock

There are close to 124 million cases of coronavirus that have been reported since it was declared a global pandemic. However, 99.8 million of them have recovered while 2.7 million have succumbed to the virus. Meanwhile, the currently infected patients add up to 21.3 million, with approximately 90% in critical conditions according to data aggregator worldometers.info.

With the virus reported to have mutated in different countries, there is a dire need for an effective vaccine. AstraZeneca anticipates significant benefits from the huge demand that is expected to run for an unknown time yet.

There were concerns that the coronavirus vaccine by AstraZeneca has been causing blood clots among the people who have received the shot.

AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine has received positive credit from the World Health Organization and the International Society on Thrombosis and Hemostasis after reports of possible blood clots caused by its vaccine. Moreover, several countries in the European bloc have resumed administering AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine shot based on the recent report. As a result, investors and analysts are optimistic that the company will rally further in the coming quarters. A survey by MarketWatch indicates AstraZeneca stock received an average rating of Buy from 25 ratings.

AstraZeneca stock jumped approximately 27% last year, but have in the past three months trapped in a consolidation. The company is looking at a billion-dollar opportunity that might remain relevant in the next decade. Countries are keen to revive their economy thus advocating for coronavirus vaccine shots.

Notably, AstraZeneca has a reported market valuation of approximately $129.47 billion with 2.63 billion outstanding shares.