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3 Coronavirus Vaccine Makers Near Finish Line in November
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The month of November has brought encouraging news amid the coronavirus pandemic. The three leading coronavirus vaccine makers — Moderna (MRNA - Free Report) , AstraZeneca (AZN - Free Report) /Oxford University and Pfizer (PFE - Free Report) /BioNTech (BNTX - Free Report) — announced encouraging results for their respective candidates in November. Each vaccine achieved efficacy rate that met the respective study’s primary endpoint. All three vaccine candidates were well tolerated and safe.
The coronavirus, SARS-Cov-2, has already infected nearly 60 million people across the globe claiming almost 1.4 million lives. Moreover, daily new cases are also on the rise, crossing 0.6 million cases per day, led by the United States. The pandemic had widespread ramifications with majority of countries implementing lockdowns. With rising new daily cases, chances of fresh major country-wide restrictions are also increasing.
We note that Moderna embarked on the vaccine race early in March by initiating a clinical study on its mRNA-based vaccine candidate, mRNA-1273. Later in the year, AstraZeneca, Pfizer and its partner BioNTech joined the race.
Pfizer and BioNTech are currently leading the race as they have submitted a request to the FDA to grant emergency use authorization (“EUA”) to their mRNA-based coronavirus vaccine candidate, BNT162b2. In the final efficacy analysis of the phase III study evaluating the candidate, it achieved an efficacy rate of 95%. However, the companies may face challenges related to logistics as their vaccine needs to be stored at extremely low temperatures.
Moderna came second in the race as it announced that its vaccine candidate achieved an efficacy rate of 94.5% in the first interim analysis last week. The company plans to request the FDA for EUA of its candidate in the coming weeks. The company’s regulatory application in Europe is under rolling review.
AstraZeneca announced interim data on its adenovirus-based vaccine candidate, AZD1222 on Monday. The vaccine achieved efficacy rate of 90% when administered as a half dose, followed by a full dose at least one month apart. However, another dosing regimen — two full doses at least one month apart — achieved a lower efficacy rate of 62%. The average efficacy rate for the candidate was 70%. The company is planning to prepare regulatory submission of the data to authorities around the world for conditional or early approval.
Please note that vaccine candidates of Moderna and AstraZeneca will likely have logistical advantage over Pfizer’s candidate as these can be stored at normal refrigerated conditions. Moreover, AstraZeneca’s vaccine can be stored at normal refrigerated conditions for six months but Moderna’s vaccine can be stored for 30 days, which may give added advantage to AstraZeneca during distribution.
Meanwhile, we note that several other pharma bigwigs and biotech companies are currently engaged in developing a coronavirus vaccine using different technologies. Pharma giant, J&J (JNJ - Free Report) is developing its vaccine candidate in a phase III study. Glaxo and Sanofi have collaborated to develop a coronavirus vaccine. The companies expect to initiate a phase III study on their adjuvanted coronavirus vaccine candidate by the end of 2020. Two biotechs that are also progressing well with their coronavirus vaccine development are Inovio Pharmaceuticals and Novavax.
Availability of vaccines is the need of the hour as it may help in restoring daily life and economies back to normal by restricting the spread of the infection. Moreover, with the advent of “second wave” in western countries, it has become highly necessary to inoculate all citizens as early as possible. Meanwhile, two antibody-based treatments for hospitalized COVID-19 patients — Lilly’s bamlanivimab and Regeneron’s REGN-COV2 — received EUA from the FDA in November.
Be among the early investors in the new type of device that experts say could impact society as much as the discovery of electricity. Current technology will soon be outdated and replaced by these new devices. In the process, it’s expected to create 22 million jobs and generate $12.3 trillion in activity.
A select few stocks could skyrocket the most as rollout accelerates for this new tech. Early investors could see gains similar to buying Microsoft in the 1990s. Zacks’ just-released special report reveals 8 stocks to watch. The report is only available for a limited time.
Image: Shutterstock
3 Coronavirus Vaccine Makers Near Finish Line in November
The month of November has brought encouraging news amid the coronavirus pandemic. The three leading coronavirus vaccine makers — Moderna (MRNA - Free Report) , AstraZeneca (AZN - Free Report) /Oxford University and Pfizer (PFE - Free Report) /BioNTech (BNTX - Free Report) — announced encouraging results for their respective candidates in November. Each vaccine achieved efficacy rate that met the respective study’s primary endpoint. All three vaccine candidates were well tolerated and safe.
The coronavirus, SARS-Cov-2, has already infected nearly 60 million people across the globe claiming almost 1.4 million lives. Moreover, daily new cases are also on the rise, crossing 0.6 million cases per day, led by the United States. The pandemic had widespread ramifications with majority of countries implementing lockdowns. With rising new daily cases, chances of fresh major country-wide restrictions are also increasing.
We note that Moderna embarked on the vaccine race early in March by initiating a clinical study on its mRNA-based vaccine candidate, mRNA-1273. Later in the year, AstraZeneca, Pfizer and its partner BioNTech joined the race.
Pfizer and BioNTech are currently leading the race as they have submitted a request to the FDA to grant emergency use authorization (“EUA”) to their mRNA-based coronavirus vaccine candidate, BNT162b2. In the final efficacy analysis of the phase III study evaluating the candidate, it achieved an efficacy rate of 95%. However, the companies may face challenges related to logistics as their vaccine needs to be stored at extremely low temperatures.
Moderna came second in the race as it announced that its vaccine candidate achieved an efficacy rate of 94.5% in the first interim analysis last week. The company plans to request the FDA for EUA of its candidate in the coming weeks. The company’s regulatory application in Europe is under rolling review.
AstraZeneca announced interim data on its adenovirus-based vaccine candidate, AZD1222 on Monday. The vaccine achieved efficacy rate of 90% when administered as a half dose, followed by a full dose at least one month apart. However, another dosing regimen — two full doses at least one month apart — achieved a lower efficacy rate of 62%. The average efficacy rate for the candidate was 70%. The company is planning to prepare regulatory submission of the data to authorities around the world for conditional or early approval.
Please note that vaccine candidates of Moderna and AstraZeneca will likely have logistical advantage over Pfizer’s candidate as these can be stored at normal refrigerated conditions. Moreover, AstraZeneca’s vaccine can be stored at normal refrigerated conditions for six months but Moderna’s vaccine can be stored for 30 days, which may give added advantage to AstraZeneca during distribution.
Meanwhile, we note that several other pharma bigwigs and biotech companies are currently engaged in developing a coronavirus vaccine using different technologies. Pharma giant, J&J (JNJ - Free Report) is developing its vaccine candidate in a phase III study. Glaxo and Sanofi have collaborated to develop a coronavirus vaccine. The companies expect to initiate a phase III study on their adjuvanted coronavirus vaccine candidate by the end of 2020. Two biotechs that are also progressing well with their coronavirus vaccine development are Inovio Pharmaceuticals and Novavax.
Availability of vaccines is the need of the hour as it may help in restoring daily life and economies back to normal by restricting the spread of the infection. Moreover, with the advent of “second wave” in western countries, it has become highly necessary to inoculate all citizens as early as possible. Meanwhile, two antibody-based treatments for hospitalized COVID-19 patients — Lilly’s bamlanivimab and Regeneron’s REGN-COV2 — received EUA from the FDA in November.
Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Moderna and BioNTech all carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Biggest Tech Breakthrough in a Generation
Be among the early investors in the new type of device that experts say could impact society as much as the discovery of electricity. Current technology will soon be outdated and replaced by these new devices. In the process, it’s expected to create 22 million jobs and generate $12.3 trillion in activity.
A select few stocks could skyrocket the most as rollout accelerates for this new tech. Early investors could see gains similar to buying Microsoft in the 1990s. Zacks’ just-released special report reveals 8 stocks to watch. The report is only available for a limited time.
See 8 breakthrough stocks now>>