By
Godfrey Benjamin
October 4th, 2023
Moderna is moving forward with its coronavirus vaccine. The company announced a deal with Lonza Group AG to manufacture 1 billion coronavirus vaccine doses a year. MRNA stock is up.
Moderna Inc (NASDAQ: MRNA) stock jumped over 5% in the pre-market on Friday after the company announced a deal with Lonza Group AG (SWX: LONN) to increase the production of its possible COVID-19 vaccine by 1 billion a year. At the moment of writing, MRNA stock is 2.46% up. The shares have more than doubled since the company announced its project that was working on a possible vaccine.
At the time of reporting, the stock was trading around $47 with the bulls indicating the rally might continue. On the technical side of view, the stock has formed a consolidating wedge for the past few days. If the bulls maintain the current rally, it will be a break out that will see it set a new all-time high.
Moderna stock has enjoyed a steady rise due to investors betting on its mRNA vaccine to be approved. Ever since the so-called ‘black Thursday’, which saw most traditional stocks crash, investors have been rushing to biotech companies that are working on a possible coronavirus vaccine.
Moderna (MRNA) Stock Performance after the Signed Deal
Moderna and Lonza Group announced a global deal under which the Swiss company will ramp up the manufacturing output of the proposed vaccine. The deal will see the first batch produced in the United States in July.
Moderna is eyeing to cover around an eighth of the world population per year, which will leave a huge gap unattended to. This is where other companies like Gilead Sciences Inc (NASDAQ: GILD) will come in to save the rest of the population with their innovative drugs.
Since the coronavirus outbreak possesses the potential to re-emerge again, the vaccines have to be made in such a way the whole world will be immunized. It will be the only measure to reassure people to go back to their normal life.
It is worth noting that other companies working on a possible vaccine are collaborating to ramp up production once approved. Among them, there is a deal between AstraZeneca Plc (NYSE: AZN) and the University of Oxford, where they are eyeing production capacity for 100 million doses by the end of the year.
The Trump administration is pushing pharmaceutical companies to make vaccine shots available for Americans by the end of this year. Moderna is likely to see its vaccine go through all the processes and pass based on the preliminary results.
The company’s vaccine induces the body’s own cells to make virus-like proteins that stimulate an immune response, hence prepares the body for an actual scenario. With that in mind, MRNA shares will continue rising as the win possibility chances stand a better position. However, it will be catastrophic for the shares if the relevant government bodies do not approve of the vaccine.