Moderna (MRNA) stock tanked by 10.48% on Thursday. The slide followed FDA Stephen Huhn’s statement that the COVID-19 vaccine is at least a year away.
After a short upward, Moderna Inc (NASDAQ: MRNA) stock has plunged. Yesterday, it closed at $28.27, 10.48% down from the previous mark. Before, Moderna stock had a sweet period, albeit short, accompanied by the positive coronavirus news.
Moderna (MRNA) Stock Price
On March 16, the biotech company dosed the first patient in a study of its coronavirus vaccine, with Seattle becoming a test site. Within phase 1 of the study, Moderna is evaluating its mRNA-based vaccine against COVID-19. As a result of the news, its shares skyrocketed by 24%. The next day, MRNA shares added another 6.38% and closed at $28.18. On March 18, the stock continued the rise. In the pre-market, Moderna stock rose by nearly 3%. And when the trading session opened, it was up another 6%. MRNA stock closed the day at $31.58.
Yesterday, Moderna stock tanked by as much as 10.48%. Finishing at $28.27, it added $0.23 in after-hours trading. As for today, MRNA was $29.70 in the pre-market trading. The opening price was $32.78.
FDA Stephen Hahn: COVID-19 Vaccine Is at Least a Year Away
Moderna stock slid immediately after a loud statement of FDA commissioner Stephen Hahn. On the Coronavirus Task Force briefing, Hahn said that the coronavirus vaccine is at least a year away, which coincides with health authorities’ expectations from the beginning of the virus spread. Such a statement was the commissioner’s reply to Donald Trump who said the drug to fight coronavirus will be rolled out very soon.
Indeed, Trump was speaking of the antimalarial drug chloroquine that had shown “very encouraging early results” in coronavirus treating. The U.S. President stated:
“It’s shown very encouraging, very, very encouraging early results, and we’re going to be able to make that drug available almost immediately, and that’s where the FDA has been so great. They’ve gone through the approval process, it’s been approved and they did it, they took it down from many, many months to immediate.”
Among companies involved in working on the vaccine, Moderna is the leading one. It has become the first to start a clinical trying. It will involve 45 healthy adults at the age from 18 to 55. Each will receive two shots, 28 days apart. Moderna calls the vaccine mRNA-1273.
Moderna’s main competitor is Gilead Sciences Inc (NASDAQ: GILD) that focuses mainly on antiviral drugs used in the treatment of HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and influenza, including Harvoni and Sovaldi. Despite the company does not have a medicine against COVID-19 in the market, a lot of investors are betting huge with the company to hit the wheel rolling soon.
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