Joe Biden is now the President-elect, but in contrast to a prior Trump statement, the coronavirus is far from yesterday’s news following the Democrats’ likely win.
News of rising Covid-19 cases might have taken a backseat during last week’s election frenzy, but the global fight against taming the pandemic is yet to be won.
But how close are we to attaining the coveted vaccine? The race is still on to be first to market with a solution as several names have vaccine candidates in advanced studies. Moderna (MRNA) remains one of the frontrunners, with its COVID-19 vaccine candidate mRNA-1273, currently in Phase 3 trials.
Following a meeting with Moderna’s head of Investor Relations, Oppenheimer analyst Hartaj Singh believes the company remains on track to disclose interim data in the next few weeks.
“A futility analysis will also be conducted at the time, but we believe the odds are slim (<5%) against such a negative readout, based on the preclinical and clinical data published to date,” Singh said.
If the interim data proves to be positive, Singh says potential FDA Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) and ex-US approvals “should happen rapidly.”
Whilst unsurprisingly, mRNA-1273’s development currently takes center stage, Moderna is also progressing with other vaccine programs. The company recently announced it will begin developing a vaccine for seasonal flu. The flu vaccine space is an “intriguing new business area,” says Singh, with worldwide sales estimated to be in the $4 billion range.
Singh notes the “real possibility for a MRNA flu vaccine to be approved in time for the 2022 flu season,” and counts it as another reason to “stay bullish” on the stock.
“We continue to be impressed by MRNA’s scalable platform and its execution across various pipeline candidates,” the analyst concluded. “We like the big picture for MRNA going into 2021, especially as a potentially revenue-generating company starting in 2021 (with $982M NOLs & $471M net DTAs as of YE19). Being profit-making could also draw the attention of another class of investor. Most importantly, a mRNA-1273 approval could validate the prophylactic vaccine franchise in general.”
Singh’s bullish tone is backed by an Outperform (i.e. Buy) rating and $108 price target. This figure implies a 40% upside from current levels. (To watch Singh’s track record, click here)
The majority of Street analysts back Singh’s call. Based on 9 Buys and 1 Hold and Sell, each, the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus rating. At $98.20, the average price target suggests possible upside of ~27% over the following months. (See Moderna stock analysis on TipRanks)
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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analyst. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.
