What happened
Coronavirus-related shares fell on Tuesday after Russia said it had registered the first novel coronavirus vaccine in the world.
By closing trade, shares of Sorrento Therapeutics (NASDAQ: SRNE), Inovio Pharma (NASDAQ: INO), Novavax (NASDAQ: NVAX), BioNTech (NASDAQ: BNTX), en Modern (NASDAQ: MRNA) were down 25%, 23%, 16%, 7%, and 4%, respectively.
So what
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said his country’s health regulator has officially approved the new COVID-19 vaccine. Russia intends to launch a national immunization program, while also exporting the drug to international markets around the world. “I hope we can start soon with a massive release of this vaccine,” Putin said.
COVID-19 files were released Tuesday on reports that Russia has a vaccine that works. Image Source: Getty Images.
The news prompted some investors to sell their shares of COVID-19 vaccine and treatment stocks, many of which have seen their share prices rise in recent months on optimism that they could be the first to develop effective solutions to combat the disease. .
Well what
While many people understood the news from Russia understandably, others were skeptical about Putin’s claims. Health officials in the US and around the world questioned whether the vaccine was really safe and effective, especially since Russia seems to be speeding up its testing process. In particular, the vaccine has not yet undergone a Phase 3 clinical trial – a critical step in determining how well it works. Thus, Russia’s announcement is certainly not a death knell for any of the companies that develop vaccines other than coronavirus treatments elsewhere. It is also possible that many of the companies leading the charge against COVID-19 – including Sorrento, Inovio, Novavax, BioNTech, and Moderna – could see their supplies in the coming days, especially as Russia’s claims of success in the fax race are shown as unsubstantiated.
