September 14, 2023 | Daily JAM, Jubak Picks, MRNA |
Shares of Moderna (MRNA) closed up 3.18% yesterday, September 13, on news that
1. The Food & Drug Administration has approved updated Covid-19 vaccine boosters (including one from Moderna) and that the Centers for Disease Control was recommending the boosters for adults and children older than 6 months. 2. The company announced that the newest results from Phase 3 clinical trials for an updated version of its flu vaccine, mRNA-1010, had met all primary endpoints in a Phase 3 trial, Compared to Glaxo’s Fluarix, Moderna’s vaccine showed higher antibody levels for all four influenza strains (two each for influenza A and B) recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) as well as higher seroconversion rates. This comes after an earlier version of the vaccine failed to demonstrate superiority for the B strains. The company expects to meet with regulators very soon and, depending on guidance received, the flu shot could launch as soon as next year, CEO Stephane Bancel told Fierce Biotech. “We’ll know more in a few months when we speak to regulators, but [we’re] trying to go as fast as we can,” he said. Of these two pieces of news I’d say No 2 is way, way more important
April 13, 2023 | Daily JAM, Jubak Picks, MRNA, Videos |
Today’s Quick Pick is Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA). You’re familiar with Moderna as the developer of one of the RNA-Covid vaccines. The stock market has been treating the stock like the company was a one-trick pony with sales dependent totally on the demand for Covid-19 vaccines. But I think of the MRNA Covid-19 vaccine as proof of the validity of Moderna’s technology platform which takes a lot of the risk out of what is still an early-stage biotech stock. The company now has 36 other vaccines in its development pipeline using the mRNA technology that was proven effective in the Covid vaccines. Around six of those are expected to launch in the next few years. The huge jump in revenue from the Covid vaccines “shot” the stock up around 900%. (The company’s revenue was $155 million in 2018, and at the end of 2022 its revenue was $19.3 billion.) But more recently, the shares have been in a steep decline and Morningstar now calls them 40% undervalued. The stock has pulled back further in the last week or so on news that results from some trials have not been positive enough to lead to early termination of the trials. The huge revenue–and the resulting profitability–from the Covid-19 vaccines put Moderna in a unique position for such a young biotech company. They’re able to fund their own research, clinical trials, and the development of new products internally. That means the company doesn’t have to sell off a share of future profits and revenue on new drugs or vaccines in order to fund research and development. I’ll be adding the stock to my Jubak Picks portfolio tomorrow, April 14.
April 27, 2021 | Daily JAM, VXRT |
As of 2 p.m. New York time, Vaxart (VXRT), a biotech developing a coronavirus vaccine in a pill, was up 48.26% to $9.04. It closed up 37.46% The stock had traded 151 million shares as of 2 p.m., about 11 times the average volume over the last 60 days. I think what we’re seeing is another one of those speculative moves built on a possible news event–Vaxart has announced a webinar for May 3 that is expected to include the release of new Phase 1 data on the efficacy of its Cover-19 vaccine in a pill–plus a plausible story–a vaccine in a pill would be exactly what India needs to stop its current pandemic surge and a vaccine in a pill would be helpful in convincing some of the vaccine hesitant to get vaccinated (no needle)–plus a big short position. According to Seeking Alpha short positions account for about 20.4% of total outstanding shares.
February 4, 2021 | Daily JAM, Stock Alerts, Volatility, VXRT |
I thought there was a possibility that Vaxart (VXRT) would recover from yesterday’s 60% drop on data from the initial Phase 1 trials of its coronavirus-vaccine-in-a-pill candidate. Especially because the initial reaction over-emphasized, in my opinion, the negatives in that data. But I suspected that yesterday’s downward trend would continue for at least another day and therefore chose to sell Vaxart shares out of my Volatility Portfolio.
February 3, 2021 | Daily JAM, Stock Alerts, Volatility, VXRT |
As of 3:00 p.m. New York time today, February 3, shares of Vaxart (VXRT) were down 58.50% to $9.69 on news that although its coronavirus vaccine candidate triggered several immune responses, it did not produce the neutralizing antibodies that prevent sa virus from replicating. I will sell shares out of my Volatility Portfolio tomorrow
September 15, 2020 | Daily JAM, Stock Alerts, Volatility, VXRT |
Yesterday shares of Vaxart (VXRT) were up 46.79%. Today they're down 16.13% as of noon in New York. And, of course the shares are down 55.38% since I bought them on July 22, 2020 at $14.79. Why so much, such extraordinary volatility? Some is because this is the kind...
July 20, 2020 | Daily JAM, Morning Briefing |
With 160 coronavirus vaccine candidates under development around the world, it's not surprising that we would get reports on three successful, if very early, trials today. The coronavirus vaccine that Oxford University is developing with AstraZeneca (AZN) showed...
June 4, 2020 | Daily JAM |
The Trump administration has identified five companies that will get major government funding for the development of a coronavirus vaccine under Operation Warp Speed, the New York Times reported yesterday. The White House is expected to officially announce the names...
