Moderna takes flight on Wall Street. The pharmaceutical company, which was at the forefront of the fight against Covid six years ago, is developing a hantavirus vaccine, a group of viruses transmitted mainly by rodents that can cause serious, even fatal, illness in people. In its Andean variant, hantavirus affected some passengers on the ship from MV Hondius cruise, alarming the entire world.
After the +16% achieved in Friday's session, in today's session the shares of the multinational pharmaceutical company advanced up 6,77% above $49, also dragging up other stocks in the pharmaceutical sector: Pfizer e Astrazeneca they rise by 1,44%, Eli Lilly of 2,8%.
Moderna working on hantavirus vaccines
Moderna has announced that it is in the early stages of development of a vaccine against hantaviruses, for which a US citizen tested positive today. The company explained that it has conducted preliminary research on hantavirus vaccines together with the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases. It is also collaborating with the Vaccine Innovation Center at Korea University College of Medicine to develop a possible immunizationThe search had already begun before the recent outbreak on the cruise ship Hondius.
"These efforts are still in an early stage and ongoing, and reflect Moderna's broader responsibility to develop countermeasures against emerging infectious diseases,” the company said.
In 2021, Moderna became known worldwide for developing one of the two mRNA vaccines (the other was from Pfizer) against the COVID-19. The company is also researching vaccines for other potential pandemics. In particular, the American biotech company is currently working on an advanced clinical trial for a avian flu vaccine, with the support of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations.
Farmindustria: "A vaccine is possible, let's hope it isn't needed."
“The road to a vaccine against Hantavirus is absolutely passable, but we are confident that there will be no need for it, because the current outbreak will not become an epidemic or pandemic And there are no emergencies at the moment. However, today we have the science and technology to provide very rapid responses to problems that may arise: just as for Covid we arrived at a vaccine within 9 months, we are now be prepared to handle situations of this nature“. The president of said this Anac Marcello Cattani on the sidelines of the 'Innovation and Value Creation' event at the Bayer site in Garbagnate.
Hantavirus: 8 infected, 4 Italians in quarantine
Let's recap the facts. An outbreak of hantavirus has been recorded aboard the Dutch-flagged cruise ship MV Hondius. The vessel, which departed South America on April 1st for Cape Verde, arrived in Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, on Sunday. Between yesterday and today, passengers were allowed to disembark under strict health measures, and the final repatriations to their countries of origin are underway. Currently, the WHO and the ECDC are assessing the risk associated with the hantavirus outbreak. Bass for the world population and very low in Europe.
The first passenger to show symptoms was a 70-year-old Dutch man, who later died. Overall, to date there have been eight infections, 6 confirmed and two probable, including a U.S. citizen and a French citizen who tested positive today. All laboratory-confirmed cases have been identified as Andes virus.
"Four people have arrived in Italy with the connecting KLM flight to Rome on which the woman hospitalized in Johannesburg and died there had boarded for a few minutes,” explains the Ministry of Health, which adds: “The contact details of the four passengers have been acquired. The Ministry of Health has therefore transmitted the information to the competent Regions (Calabria, Campania, Tuscany, Veneto) for the activation of active surveillance procedures, in the principle of maximum caution.” Two of the four people are in fiduciary isolationIn Torre Del Greco, in Campania, and in Villa San Giovanni, in Calabria, the mayors have ordered mandatory quarantine for the two people at risk.
