- Moderna stock has jumped as worries about a deadly hantavirus outbreak grow.
- The pharmaceutical giant has been working on hantavirus as part of its infectious disease efforts.
- Experts say hantavirus isn't like Covid, signaling investors should measure expectations.
The move: Moderna stock popped as investors eye it as a play on the emerging hantavirus threat in recent weeks.
Shares popped for the second day in a row on Monday, bring the stock's two-day gain to as much as 22% from Thursday's close, hitting a session high of $59.48 before paring slightly.
The chart:
Why: Hantavirus has been in the headlines after three passengers on a cruise ship in the Atlantic died of the rodent-borne virus earlier this month.
Moderna has emerged as the market's top Hantavirus pick due to the company's ongoing hantavirus research.
The pharmaceutical giant has been working on hantavirus vaccines for years prior to the 2026 outbreak. Moderna said the efforts are "early-stage and ongoing."
Earlier this month, Moderna reported positive results from its investigative influenza vaccine trials, which is also part of its infectious disease portfolio.
Currently, there is no hantavirus vaccine, but Moderna is involved in separate projects with the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases and the Vaccine Innovation Center at Korea University College of Medicine.
Why it matters: Moderna's strategic priority of its infectious disease portfolio makes the company stand out as hantavirus worries grow.
Despite recent interest, it's unlikely that Moderna's hantavirus work will pay off into the massive stock rally seen during the Covid pandemic.
Moderna stock emerged as a mega winner during the Covid pandemic. The stock more than tripled in the first six months of the pandemic.
Moderna shares are trading well below their Covid peak.
The World Health Organization (WHO) director-general Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus issued a statement saying that Hantavirus is not another Covid pandemic.
Jay Hooper, US Army virologist with over three decades of experience, told Scientific American that the commercial market for a hantavirus vaccine would be small and presents an unattractive opportunity for pharmaceutical companies, unlike the Covid vaccine.
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