Prasad email a headwind for vaccine manufacturers, says BofA

BofA notes that a leaked email from CBER director Dr. Vinay Prasad detailing that staff have reportedly found at least 10 children died after receiving COVID-19 vaccination was published by several news outlets, though there was reportedly little information on the exact patient histories and cases with the CBER director noting that it is unknown how many children actually died from vaccines versus how many lives were saved. While the firm views the memo as consistent with prior messaging, the negative headlines could further weigh on COVID vaccine uptake, which has seen another weak season, adds the analyst. BofA maintains an Underperform rating and $6 price target on Novavax (NVAX) with sentiment seen as “unlikely to ease in the near-term.” Other publicly traded companies in the vaccine space include Moderna (MRNA), BioNTech (BNTX), GSK (GSK), Pfizer (PFE) and Sanofi (SNY).