The company hopes to have emergency use FDA approval as soon as December
Biotech and COVID-19 vaccine frontrunner Moderna Inc (NASDAQ:MRNA) just announced Madrid-based pharmaceutical firm Rovi (ROVI) will be in charge of the "fill and finish" stage of manufacturing its vaccine candidate. Moderna said it plans on starting these finishing touches as soon as the potential treatment is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for emergency use, which could happen as soon as December. Today's news has MRNA looking to pivot higher, up 1.3% at $71.85 at last check.
In fact, the security is on course to snap a four-day losing streak that landed MRNA just below is recently supportive 20-day moving average during last night's session. The equity is testing its footing at this trendline today, while the 30-day moving average sits just below as a potential net for pullbacks. Year-ovr-year, MRNA is up an impressive 357.8%.
Most analysts are on board with MRNA, with 10 of the 13 in coverage calling it a "buy" or better. Plus, the 12-month consensus price target of $92.54 is a 28.8% premium to current levels.
Options players are beginning to take a slightly different stance. While overall call volume still outnumbers puts, MRNA's 50-day put/call volume ratio at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) stands higher than 89% of readings from the past year. This suggests a much healthier-than-usual appetite for bearish bets of late.