For the better part of 2018 and 2019, headline writers in the financial media attributed the stock market's gains to "hopes of a trade deal" between the U.S. and China.
As of late, the financial media has decided to bring back the constant "hope" headlines, attributing the stock market's gains from the March low to "hopes of a COVID-19 vaccine" and "hopes of a strong economic recovery."
While the real reason has more to do with accommodative policies from central banks, yesterday saw the former headline as markets surged on hopes of a coronavirus vaccine from Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA).
Moderna announced its vaccine candidate produced COVID-19 antibodies in all 45 participants in the trial. Moderna split the participants into three groups of 15, with the groups receiving 25, 100 or 250 microgram doses. The participants were given two doses of the vaccine candidate 28 days apart.
At day 43, two weeks after the second dose, participants in the 25 and 100 microgram group saw levels of antibodies seen in people who have recovered from the coronavirus. Participants in the 100 microgram group had antibodies that "significantly exceeded levels" in recovered patients. Data for the second dose was not yet available for those participants who received the 250 microgram dose.
"These interim Phase 1 data, while early, demonstrate that vaccination with mRNA-1273 elicits an immune response of the magnitude caused by natural infection starting with a dose as low as 25 [micrograms]," Moderna chief medical officer Dr. Tal Zaks said.
"When combined with the success in preventing viral replication in the lungs of a pre-clinical challenge model at a dose that elicited similar levels of neutralizing antibodies, these data substantiate our belief that mRNA-1273 has the potential to prevent COVID-19 disease and advance our ability to select a dose for pivotal trials," Zaks said.
Moderna, which is the first company to release data from human trials for a COVID-19 vaccine, expects to begin a phase 3 trial in July.
Moderna said if the vaccine is found to be effective, it could be ready in early 2021.
Moderna shareholders appear to be optimistic about the company's vaccine candidate. Moderna, which reported $60 million in revenues in its latest full year, now sports a market capitalization of nearly $30 billion.
The news from Moderna caused shares of Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD), which has also received heightened attention from investors for its coronavirus candidate remdesivir, to fall to the lowest level since April 13.
With markets placing so much hope on Moderna's vaccine candidate, hopefully, it can prove to be an effective treatment against the coronavirus which has killed more than 300,000 people worldwide.