Why Moderna Trounced the Market on Thursday

The company is clearly determined to win regulatory authorization for its coronavirus vaccine booster.

What happened

Hardly for the first time since the rise of the COVID delta variant, star coronavirus stock Moderna(NASDAQ:MRNA)well outpaced the S&P 500index on Thursday. On positive if not astounding news, the biotech's stock finished with a gain of just under 2% on the day, against the index's marginal improvement.

So what

The main stock-moving news item for Moderna over the past day seems to be its latest submission to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Specifically, thebiotechfiled the initial data on booster doses of its mRNA-1273 coronavirus vaccine after market hours on Wednesday. In doing so, it added that it aims to repeat the feat with other regulators around the world in a matter of days. This list includes the European Medicines Agency (EMA), which covers the sprawling, 27-country European Union.

"We will continue to generate data and transparently share to support governments and regulators as they make evidence-based decisions regarding future vaccination strategies," Moderna quoted its CEO Stéphane Bancel as saying.

Like the Comirnaty coronavirus jab developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, mRNA-1273 is a two-shot vaccine. So far the former is the only coronavirus vaccine with full FDA approval in the U.S., although it's likely mRNA-1273's nod isn't too far behind.

Now what

While Moderna's FDA submission and planned international filings for the booster were entirely expected by investors, they serve to remind us of the company's still-powerful position near the top of the coronavirus vaccine hill. As such, we can expect more stock-moving headlines for Moderna in the days, weeks, and probably months to come.