Why did Moderna stock drop today? Waning sentiment on vaccine makers
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Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) closed as the worst performer in the S&P 500 as COVID-19 vaccine makers witnessed a selloff on Monday. With the biggest decline in more than two months, the shares of the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotech reached a 10-week low on above-average volume.
The recent investor sentiment is not in favor of COVID-19 vaccine developers, and Moderna (MRNA) in particular, after a pandemic-driven rally in 2020 and most of 2021.
The decline comes at a time the COVID-19 cases in the U.S. are moving in a positive direction. As of Monday, the case numbers are on a negative trend in every state, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University. The average daily case numbers are hovering at 175,000 new cases per day, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
While the average daily deaths remain elevated at 2,200, Modernaâs (MRNA) biggest rival in vaccine development, Pfizer (NYSE:PFE), is well-positioned to serve a potential post-pandemic scenario with its COVID-19 pill, Paxlovid, which is authorized in the U.S. for at-home use.
However, last week Pfizer (PFE) set its 2022 outlook below expectations even after raising the revenue guidance for the COVID-19 shot to ~$32B. The initial estimate for Paxlovid stood at $22B.
Todayâs selloff comes after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decided to postpone an AdCom meeting scheduled to discuss the Pfizer (PFE)/BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) COVID-19 vaccine for kids aged 6 months to 5 years after the drugmakers needed additional data from an ongoing study.
However, even after eight months from its request to the regulator, Moderna (MRNA) has yet to win the FDA approval for its COVID-19 vaccine for adolescents, an age category currently served by Pfizer (PFE) and BioNTech (BNTX).