Moderna Inc MRNA turned sharply lower Friday following reports that the Food and Drug Administration is delaying a decision on authorizing the company's COVID-19 vaccine for adolescents. The delay will give the FDA time to assess if ther vaccine could help lead to a heightened risk of a rare inflammatory heart condition called myocarditis.
Short Hills Capital's Steve Weiss thinks the pullback in Moderna shares is a buying opportunity, he said Friday on CNBC.
Weiss said the cases in which people developed myocarditis following vaccination all resulted in recovery from the heart condition.
"So I think there's really nothing there and that this is momentary and that it will come back," he said.
Moderna is much more effective than Pfizer Inc's PFE vaccine based on the results of a study showing efficacy of the vaccines after six months, Weiss said. He stressed the news that investors should focus on is the approval of Moderna's booster, which was unanimously passed by the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee on Thursday.
The booster is half the dose of the first two shots (50 micrograms instead of 100 micrograms) and the company estimates that the booster at the 50 microgram dose level could result in up to one billion additional doses.
"I think this is an opportunity to get in front of it and to buy it because I also expect mix and match to be approved later on today when the panel votes," Weiss said.
“Mix and match” refers to giving a different vaccine dose than the vaccine type that was used for the initial vaccination.
MRNA Price Action: Moderna has traded as high as $497.49 and as low as $65.48 over a 52-week period.
The stock was down 3.40% at $320.60 at time of publication.
Photo: Mufid Majnun from Pixabay.
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