With the coronavirus still wreaking havoc, vaccine stocks are in the spotlight.
To date, Gilead has noted preliminary results of a COVID-19 vaccine trial “showed at least 50% of patients treated with a 5-day dosage of antiviral drug remdesivir improved and more than half were discharged from the hospital within two weeks,” as noted by CNBC.
BioNTech and Pfizer announced they’ve begun delivering doses of their experimental coronavirus vaccines for initial human testing in the United States, says CNBC. And Moderna just announced the US FDA approved its vaccine candidate for Phase 2 trials.
Late last week, Sinovac Biotech announced it’s in discussions with regulators to launch Phase 3 clinical trials in regions where the virus is still spreading rapidly, says Bloomberg. “We’ve got the vaccine ready,” CEO Yin Weidong said. “Once any country approves the clinical trial, we will launch it immediately.”
Once a vaccine is ready, there’s hope life – and global economies can soon resume some sort of normalcy, near-term.
As we wait to see what’s next, here are some of the top stocks piquing our interest.
Opportunity No. 1 – Moderna Inc. (MRNA)
We highlighted MRNA as an opportunity in the last two alerts – once at $50.08 and again at $48.15. At the moment, the stock is up to $53.20 and is still a solid opportunity. All after the U.S. FDA approved its vaccine candidate for Phase 2 trials. From here, the company will begin the next round of trials with 600 participants, and is also finalizing plans for a Phase 3 trial as early as this summer, says CNBC.
“We are accelerating manufacturing scale-up and our partnership with Lonza puts us in a position to make and distribute as many vaccine doses of mRNA-1273 as possible, should it prove to be safe and effective,” CEO Stephane Bancel.
Opportunity No. 2 – Expedia (EXPE)
With the travel industry in distress, this may not seem like a great time to buy EXPE. However, at current prices, it’s become an incredible opportunity. Plus, eventually, the travel industry will recover, allowing stocks like EXPE to push higher, as well. Expedia, says SunTrust Robinson Humphrey “is likely to meet liquidity requirements under reasonable stress and will likely act aggressively to reduce costs.”
Opportunity No. 3 – Teladoc Health (TDOC)
Even after running to $175, TDOC still offers good opportunity. As health professionals urge folks to limit face to face contact, telehealth has emerged. So much so, analysts at Forrester say virtual care visits could soar to one billion this year. Also, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services just awarded $20 million to help increase telehealth access.
