Moderna and other vaccine maker shares jump after first US bird flu death
David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
- Vaccine makers' stocks surged on Tuesday after the US reported its first bird flu death.
- Moderna, Novavax, and CureVac saw double-digit gains, while Pfizer and GSK also rose.
- The drugmakers have previously reported plans to develop mRNA vaccines to treat the virus.
Shares of vaccine makers surged on Tuesday after the US reported its first bird flu death, turning investors' attention to the potential demand for a new drug to protect against the virus.
Moderna stock gained 14%, shooting up to $48.56 per share Tuesday afternoon.
Vaccine-makers Novavax and CureVac similarly rose, soaring 15% and 10%, respectively, while Pfizer gained 2% and GSK climbed 1%.
Moderna, Pfizer, and a partnership between GSK and CureVac are reportedly working to develop vaccines incorporating mRNA technology. Moderna won a $176 million award from the US government in July to develop the shot.
The gains in the drugmakers' shares come after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the first death from bird flu on Monday, announcing an elderly patient with underlying medical conditions died of the H5 strain of the virus in Louisiana.
The agency added there have been 66 human cases of the strain in the US in total since the start of last year.
Most cases in the US have caused only mild symptoms like eye redness, with some reports of fever and respiratory symptoms, too.
Outside of the US, there have been over 950 cases of H5N1 bird flu reported to the World Health Organization, with about half of those resulting in death, the CDC said.
The agency said the virus's risk to the general public remains low, though, especially with no human transmission recorded.
"Most importantly, no person-to-person transmission spread has been identified. As with the case in Louisiana, most H5 bird flu infections are related to animal-to-human exposures," the agency said in a press release.
The agency added that while there are no concerning cases of the virus actively spreading in wild birds, poultry, or cows that would raise the risk to human health, people with greater exposures to infected birds or other animals are at greater risk of infection.
So far, the virus has impacted 917 dairy cow herds across 16 states, according to CDC data as of Tuesday.