Shares of major pharmaceutical and biotech companies surged in Monday's trade as investors rushed to identify potential beneficiaries of a possible response to the emerging hantavirus outbreak flagged by the World Health Organization.
Leading the rally was Moderna, whose shares climbed nearly 6% after the company confirmed it had already conducted preclinical hantavirus research in collaboration with the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases.
"Moderna has conducted preclinical research on Hantaviruses in collaboration with the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), reflecting the ongoing regional impact of these pathogens,” the company said in a statement shared with CNBC.
The company added that the work remains at an early stage and forms part of its broader strategy to develop countermeasures for emerging infectious diseases.
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The rally extended beyond Moderna, with Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Novavax and Emergent BioSolutions also gaining in early trading as investors revisited pandemic-era playbooks.
The move followed the WHO's May 2 warning about a hantavirus outbreak linked to the Dutch-flagged expedition cruise ship MV Hondius, which had been sailing in the Atlantic Ocean. The outbreak involved the Andes virus strain, the only hantavirus known to spread between humans.
According to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, eight cases have been reported so far, including three deaths, while five cases have been laboratory-confirmed as hantavirus infections.
Despite the market reaction, global health authorities have repeatedly stressed that the public health risk remains low and that human-to-human transmission is rare.
Analysts at Evercore said the outbreak is unlikely to materially boost revenues for vaccine developers such as Moderna.
“As a heavily retail-trafficked name, Moderna tends to trade on outbreak headlines well beyond the underlying commercial implications,” Evercore analysts said in a note dated May 7.
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“Hantavirus is a low-incidence, structurally small market, and we view any potential outsized moves as sentiment-driven, not fundamental,” the analysts added.
Still, the episode once again underscored Wall Street's sensitivity to emerging infectious disease headlines, particularly for companies associated with mRNA technology and rapid vaccine development following the Covid-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, the MV Hondius has docked in Tenerife in Spain's Canary Islands after remaining offshore for several days awaiting clearance. Health authorities have initiated testing, isolation and repatriation procedures for passengers and crew as monitoring efforts continue.
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