Moderna stock whipsaws as investors monitor hantavirus outbreak
Moderna stock whipsaws as investors monitor hantavirus outbreak
Naomi BuchananMon, May 11, 2026 at 7:39 PM UTC
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Moderna stock jumped on worries about a deadly hantavirus outbreak.
Gains parred as officials assured the public that the risk of a pandemic remains low.
Experts say hantavirus isn't like Covid, signaling investors should measure expectations.
The move: Moderna stock popped, before paring losses as investors eye it as a play on the emerging hantavirus threat.
Shares opened Monday's session higher, with the stock peaking around 22% from Thursday's close. The gains reversed and sunk into the red as fears about a more widespread outbreak eased, with the stock down 5% around 3:30 p.m. ET.
The chart:
Why: Hantavirus has been in the headlines after three passengers on a cruise ship in the Atlantic died of the rodent-borne virus earlier this month.
Moderna has emerged as the market's top Hantavirus pick due to the company's ongoing hantavirus research started years prior to the 2026 outbreak as part of its infectious disease portfolio.
The pharmaceutical giant confirmed its hantavirus work in a statement to Business Insider.
"These efforts are early-stage and ongoing and reflect Moderna's broader responsibility to develop countermeasures against emerging infectious diseases."
Earlier this month, Moderna reported positive results from its investigative influenza vaccine trials, another part of its infectious disease-focused work.
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Currently, there is no hantavirus vaccine, but Moderna is involved in separate projects with the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases and the Vaccine Innovation Center at Korea University College of Medicine.
Why it matters: Moderna's strategic priority of its infectious disease portfolio makes the company stand out in moments like these.
The stock's performance reflects investors' hantavirus worries, gaining when fears were high and falling as concerns eased.
Despite recent interest, it's unlikely that Moderna's hantavirus work will pay off into the massive stock rally seen during the Covid pandemic.
Moderna stock emerged as a mega winner during the Covid pandemic. The stock more than tripled in the first six months of the pandemic.
Moderna shares are trading well below their Covid peak.
The World Health Organization (WHO) director-general Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus issued a statement saying that Hantavirus is not another Covid pandemic.
Jay Hooper, US Army virologist with over three decades of experience, told Scientific American that the commercial market for a hantavirus vaccine would be small and presents an unattractive opportunity for pharmaceutical companies, unlike the Covid vaccine.
on Business Insider
Source: “AOL Money”
