The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Moderna, Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Vir Biotechnology and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – March 6, 2020 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Moderna, Inc. MRNA, Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. INO, Vir Biotechnology, Inc. VIR and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ALNY.

Here are highlights from Thursday’s Analyst Blog:

House Okays $8 Billion in Funds to Combat Coronavirus: 3 Winners

The House of Representatives passed a bill for allotment of funds in an emergency pool earlier this week, which is to be used to counter the damaging effects of the coronavirus outbreak is expected to have on the domestic economy.

Let us analyze which stocks are expected to benefit from this emergency stash.

House Allocates $8 Billion to Emergency Funds

On Mar 4, the House passed a legislation that allocates more than $8 billion to emergency funds to battle against the spread of coronavirus. The bill won by a voting ratio of 415-2. Republican lawmakers Ken Buck of Colorado and Andy Biggs of Arizona were the only members who voted unfavorably.

The emergency funds aim to provide more than $3 billion for vaccine research and $2.2 billion for efforts in prevention and preparedness. Medical tests and vaccine research to combat the pandemic are urgent tasks right now, which many biotechnology firms in the country are working on actively.

Companies, such as Moderna, Inc., Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Vir Biotechnology, Inc. are currently in the process of developing the much-needed vaccines.

The congressional spending proposal is considerably higher than the $2.5 billion that the White House had proposed in late February. The bill also authorizes about $500 million to allow Medicare providers to offer telehealth services, which would benefit elderly patients to receive care in the comforts of their homes.

The bill is now headed to the Senate for approval. Should it be passed effectively, it will then make its way to President Donald Trump’s desk, who is expected to give a green signal. Trump had earlier indicated at a news conference that he would “spend whatever is appropriate” to fight the COVID-19 outbreak.

After all, death toll in the United States climbed to 11 and minimum 138 are infected. Of the 11, 10 deaths were confirmed from Washington while one was registered in California. Globally, the pandemic claimed more than 3,100 lives.

3 Stocks in Focus

We have, therefore, handpicked three vital stocks that are actively developing vaccines to address the novel coronavirus. One may take a closer look at these.

Moderna is a clinical stage biotechnology company. Last week, the company said that its first batch of vaccine against the COVID-19 disease, called mRNA-1273, was ready for the government to test on humans.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Moderna’s current-year earnings has moved 5% north in the past 60 days. Shares of this company, which belongs to the Zacks Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry, have risen 40.5% against the industry’s decline of 2.6% on a year-to-date basis. (Read more)

Moderna carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Inovio Pharmaceuticals on Mar 4 announced an accelerated timeline to develop its DNA vaccine INO-4800 to battle COVID-19. Inovio's President & CEO Dr. J. Joseph Kim mentioned this accelerated timeline at the U.S. Coronavirus Task Force meeting at the White House on Mar 2.

Inovio Pharmaceuticals carries a Zacks Rank #3. Shares of this company, which belongs to the Zacks Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry, have risen 143.2% against the industry’s decline of 2.6% on a year-to-date basis.

Vir Biotechnology is a clinical-stage immunology company. The firm, along with Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., announced on Mar 4 that the two companies would expand their continuing collaboration to make an attempt to develop RNA interference treatments for SARS-CoV-2.

Vir Biotechnology carries a Zacks Rank #3. Shares of this company, which belongs to the Zacks Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry, have risen 257% against the industry’s decline of 2.7% on a year-to-date basi

Free: Zacks’ Single Best Stock Set to Double

Today you are invited to download our latest Special Report that reveals 5 stocks with the most potential to gain +100% or more in 2020. From those 5, Zacks Director of Research, Sheraz Mian hand-picks one to have the most explosive upside of all.

This pioneering tech ticker had soared to all-time highs and then subsided to a price that is irresistible. Now a pending acquisition could super-charge the company’s drive past competitors in the development of true Artificial Intelligence. The earlier you get in to this stock, the greater your potential gain.

See 5 Stocks Set to Double>>

Media Contact

Zacks Investment Research

800-767-3771 ext. 9339

support@zacks.com                    

https://www.zacks.com

Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
 
Moderna, Inc. (MRNA) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ALNY) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (INO) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (VIR) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
 
Zacks Investment Research