Moderna leads S&P 500 after raising guidance for 2022 COVID-19 vaccine sales
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Moderna (MRNA
+9.3%) has staged a sharp rally to lead the components of S&P 500 after the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotech raised its guidance for 2022 COVID-19 vaccine sales.
Speaking at the ongoing JPMorgan Annual Healthcare Conference, CEO Stephane Bancel said that the company has signed $18.5B worth of advance purchase agreements (APA) for its COVID-19 vaccine this year.

ââ¦As of today, we have $18.5 billion of signed APAs and we have now around $3.5 billion of options,â Bancel remarked, adding âit's important to know that there's a lot of discussions ongoing as we speak, that those numbers are mostly heavily toward the first half of the year.â
He also indicated plans to introduce an Omicron-specific booster vaccine in the fall of 2022. âWe think given Omicron is really becoming dominant everywhere, that providing an Omicron in the potential fall '22 vaccine, an Omicron component, we think is going to be important,â Bancel added.

In November, Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) shares came under pressure after its Q3 financials fell short of expectations. At the time, the company projected $17B worth of APAs for 2022.