U.S. pharma and biotech firm Moderna’s (MRNA) shares climbed by about 9% in Monday’s pre-market session, extending their roughly 12% gain on Friday. The additional gains come as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services confirmed that an American national who traveled back to the country following the outbreak of Hantavirus on the MV Hondius cruise ship has tested positive.
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Hantavirus Outbreak Fuels Moderna’s Rally
The outbreak of the virus on the cruise ship currently docked in Spain’s Canary Islands has killed three people and affected at least six others, according to the World Health Organization. This development is drawing attention to Moderna, which has said that it has been carrying out early vaccine research for the family of viruses in partnership with the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases.
Hantavirus is a rare but severe respiratory illness that can result in severe bleeding, fever, and possibly death, according to Thomas Jefferies, a senior lecturer in Microbiology at Western Sydney University. However, unlike airborne viruses such as COVID-19 and influenza, the virus — which is found in the urine and feces of infected rodents such as mice and rats — is rarely transmitted from person-to-person.
Moderna, which specializes in messenger RNA (mRNA) medicines and is best known for developing one of the first COVID-19 vaccines to be approved for emergency use, had been working on a hantavirus vaccine before the outbreak on the cruise ship in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. However, the biotech firm has emphasized that its efforts are still at an early stage and far from delivering a market-ready medication.
This is even as investments across the industry into Hantavirus research have lagged other areas due to the rare occurrence of the disease.
Is MRNA a Strong Buy?
On Wall Street, analysts continue to see Moderna’s shares as a Hold based on their consensus rating. This breaks down to one Buy, 12 Holds, and one Sell issued by 14 analysts over the past three months.
Moreover, the average MRNA price target of $44.71 suggests roughly 18% upside in the months ahead.
