Why Moderna Was a Stock Market Star on Friday
Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA), considered by many to be the top coronavirus stock, was tops with investors on the last trading day of the week. The company's shares enjoyed a nearly 4% lift, far outpacing the gain of the S&P 500 index. A supply deal with the U.S. government was the catalyst for the pop.
Friday morning, Moderna announced that the U.S. government has secured 66 million doses of a booster version of its Spikevax vaccine that includes the mRNA for the omicron BA.4/5 strain. The government is on the hook for up to $1.74 billion for that batch, and it holds options to buy as many as another 234 million boosters from the biotech.
This bivalent vaccine is one of two currently being advanced by Moderna. In addition to the version being shipped to the U.S. government, the company also has one containing the BA.1 omicron strain.
Source Fool.com
