Vaccine Stocks Rise as Chinese Scientists Discover a New Coronavirus

Stocks of makers of COVID vaccines, Moderna MRNA, Pfizer PFE, Novavax NVAX and BioNTech BNTX rose on Friday on reports of a new bat coronavirus being discovered in China.What is the New Coronavirus?Some scientists at Wuhan Institute of Virology, China said they had discovered a new coronavirus called HKU5-Cov-2 in bats that has the potential to be transferred to humans. Per reports, the virus belongs to the same family of coronaviruses as SARS-CoV-2, the virus that caused the deadly COVD-19 pandemic.The virus has shown the potential to enter human cells by binding to a protein called ACE2 that is found in humans and other mammals.The HKU5-Cov-2 also shares similarities with the viruses that cause Middle East Respiratory Syndrome or MERS causing similar symptoms like fever, cough, fatigue, sneezing and breathlessness. However, the HKU5-Cov-2 virus has not been found in humans yet.What’s Behind the Rise of MRNA, PFE & NVAX Stocks?Pfizer and partner BioNTech and Moderna gave the world the first mRNA-based vaccines to combat COVID-19 in the second half of 2021. However, with the end of the pandemic, sales of their COVID vaccines have waned due to lack of demand. The companies have, time and again, updated their COVID vaccines, but this has not helped sales improve much. Novavax’s protein-based vaccine was launched much later in August 2022.On Friday, while Moderna rose 5.3%, Pfizer was up 1.5%. Novavax rose 0.9% and BioNTech rose 1.8%. The stocks rose in anticipation that the new virus in China could trigger another pandemic in the future, which, in turn, can result in demand for new vaccines to combat the virus, either through new formulations or updates to existing vaccines.However, though the virus has shown the potential to infect humans, the risk of HKU5-Cov-2 causing a pandemic like COVID-19 is low as the HKU5-CoV-2 virus has significantly lower efficiency in binding to human ACE2 compared to SARS-CoV-2. This means that the chances of widespread human transmission are low.Zacks Rank of MRNA, PFE, NVAX and BNTXMRNA, NVAX and PFE have a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) each, while BioNTech has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.Just Released: Zacks Top 10 Stocks for 2025Hurry – you can still get in early on our 10 top tickers for 2025. Handpicked by Zacks Director of Research Sheraz Mian, this portfolio has been stunningly and consistently successful. From inception in 2012 through November, 2024, the Zacks Top 10 Stocks gained +2,112.6%, more than QUADRUPLING the S&P 500’s +475.6%. Sheraz has combed through 4,400 companies covered by the Zacks Rank and handpicked the best 10 to buy and hold in 2025. You can still be among the first to see these just-released stocks with enormous potential. See New Top 10 Stocks >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Pfizer Inc. (PFE): Free Stock Analysis Report Moderna, Inc. (MRNA): Free Stock Analysis Report Novavax, Inc. (NVAX): Free Stock Analysis Report BioNTech SE Sponsored ADR (BNTX): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks