Moderna CEO calls for 4th booster after stock tumble

Amber CoakleyJanuary 7, 2022

FILE – Pharmacist Kenni Clark prepares a booster dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine during a vaccination clinic at City of Lawrence’s “The Center,” which serves seniors, families and the community, Wednesday, Dec. 29, 2021, in Lawrence, Mass. U.S. regulators, on Friday, Jan. 7, 2022, are shortening the time that people who received Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine have to wait for a booster. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

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UPDATED 7:34 AM PT – Friday, January 7, 2022

Pharmaceutical giant Moderna is pushing for the fourth round of COVID-19 boosters. In an interview Thursday, Moderna CEO Stephane Ancel said the efficiency of booster-shots will “likely” decline over time. He added, emerging new variants of COVID-19 will require a fourth dose of the vaccine “for some people.”

Moderna’s stock rose from $115 per share to $215 over the past year as it shipped 800 million doses of its vaccine paid for by national governments. However, easing COVID-19 fears last October led to its stock decline by 34 percent.

“We’re not negative on Moderna from a technology perspective, we think that they’ve invested properly in the business,” explained Goeff Meacham, a senior analyst for Bank of America. “It’s just the assumptions that one needs for boosters to get to consensus forecasts, you know, we’re talking five, eight, 10 billion in 2023 and beyond. I just think that is less likely, I mean, most folks wouldn’t want to get boosted in quarantine and continue this cycle for the foreseeable future.”

The stock chart for #Moderna. It has a long way to fall. They don’t own the technology and the side effects are mounting as compared to the other COVID options. pic.twitter.com/XamDQWzI52

— Tim Wood 🇺🇸⚔️ (@TimOnPoint) January 7, 2022

Most economists agree the financial performance of Big Pharma companies depends on how long COVID-19 will last and their stock could tumble once the crisis is over.