Major pharmaceuticals had a fantastic week in the global markets amid speculation that they may be ready to develop a vaccine to treat bird flu.
As fears grow around the world over the risk of another pandemic following the detection of avian bird flu in humans, pharmaceutical companies are benefitting from talk that they may be ready to develop another vaccine to stop another pandemic in its tracks.
The Motley Fool reports:
Shares of vaccine stocks Moderna, Novavax, and BioNTech SE rallied this week, appreciating 23.4%, 16.4%, and 9.3%, respectively, through Thursday trading, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.
While these three stocks gained notoriety back in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, it appears this week’s detection of avian bird flu in a second U.S. citizen and the first-ever detection of avian flu in a human in Australia are spurring fears of an outbreak and thus a possible boon for companies that can quickly produce a bird flu vaccine.
A new avian flu, H5N1, was detected in cattle back in March, with one worker in Texas coming down with associated conjunctivitis at that time. But on Wednesday this week, a second U.S. dairy worker in Michigan tested positive for the avian flu as well. That same day, an Australian dairy worker also tested positive for avian flu, marking the first-ever human case of avian flu in that country.
The discoveries spurred fears of an outbreak. That same day, the Assistant Secretary of Preparedness and Response at the Department of Health and Human Services, Dawn O’Connell, noted that Moderna and Pfizer, which partnered with BioNTech on the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine, were in talks over a potential mRNA vaccine program for the new avian flu.
As has been extensively reported by The Gateway Pundit, major pharmaceuticals including Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca made billions in profits for their shareholders after developing a series of vaccines intended to treat COVID-19.
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