Vaccine stocks Pfizer (PFE), BioNTech (BNTX) and Moderna (MRNA) popped Friday as scientists grappled with a new Covid variant first detected in South Africa.
BioNTech says it needs two weeks to determine whether the new variant could escape its vaccine. The variant called B.1.1.529 — or omicron — is different from others due to a large number of mutations on the spike protein, a protrusion on the outside of the virus that the immune system recognizes. If necessary, the company says it could adjust its vaccine for the new variant in six weeks.
On the stock market today, vaccine stocks jumped. BioNTech stock surged 14.2% to 348. Pfizer stock popped 6.1% to 54. Moderna stock leapt 20.6% to 329.63. Novavax (NVAX), which just gained its first authorizations in Indonesia and the Philippines, saw its stock bound 9% to 217.97.