AstraZeneca Plc fell from a record in New York trade after data for the company’s Covid-19 vaccine candidate, while promising, fueled concerns about whether it can match competitors.
Bernstein analysts led by Ronny Gal said the vaccine, developed in association with the University of Oxford, showed initial positive data, but the benefits did not appear to match standards set by the Pfizer Inc. and BioNtech SE programs, as well as by Moderna. Inc. “In the competitive context they fail to impress,” wrote Gal.
To exacerbate concerns, the medical journal Lancet’s publication came just an hour after Pfizer and BioNtech announced early positive data from their Covid-19 vaccine trial in Germany, which is based on promising results from their program earlier this year. month.
AstraZeneca’s US listed shares fell as much as 5.7%, the biggest intraday decline since March, bringing the share’s annual gain to 19%. Moderna, which is among the most popular biotech stocks, also dropped as much as 18% as JPMorgan downgraded its rating to the equivalent of a hold. AstraZeneca data “does not impress” in a competitive context, “the titers of immunized patients were lower than convalescent patients, while BioNtech and Moderna vaccines produced substantially higher IgGs than convalescent controls,” said Bernstein, Ronny Gal.
.
