Replies to post #252380 on Biotech Values

[Mufaso]

Barrons on RSV stocks today had this headline "Moderna, Pfizer, and GSK Stocks Fall After Vote on RSV Shots" although it should have been titled Moderna down hard 11% while PFE an d GSK also fall some.

Moderna, Pfizer, and GSK Stocks Fall After Vote on RSV Shots
https://www.barrons.com/articles/moderna-shares-rsv-shot-cdc-c0f547bf

Key excerpts:

Shares of Pfizer PFE -2.04%, , Moderna, and GSK -3.57% tumbled Wednesday as decisions by a key Centers for Disease Control and Prevention committee appeared to throw cold water on the outlook for sales of the respiratory syncytial virus vaccines each company hopes to sell this fall.

The CDC advisory committee voted unanimously in favor of a recommendation that people 75 years of age and older receive an RSV shot, and that adults 60 to 74 who are at risk for severe RSV receive one as well. That recommendation appears to be more limited than the call in place last year, and doesn’t include the expansion to younger patients that GSK had hoped for.

The committee’s recommendations will determine how insurers cover the shots this year. Insurers will likely not cover RSV shots for individuals not included in the recommendations

The guidance, if adopted by the CDC, would replace last year’s language, which said that people 60 and older may receive an RSV shot upon consultation with their doctor. It appears to set narrower limits on which adults aged 60 to 74 should receive the shots.

What’s more, the advisory committee didn’t recommend the vaccine for adults aged 50 to 59 at high risk for RSV, an outcome GSK was hoping for. While the Food and Drug Administration approved GSK’s shot for that population earlier this month, the CDC committee said more information was necessary before it could make a recommendation.

...Demand for the shots was strong in 2023; sales of GSK’s shot alone were $1.5 billion.

Committee members cited lingering questions about the potential risk of Guillain-Barre syndrome, which has been reported in very small numbers in patients who received the Pfizer and GSK vaccines.

“It is not a small consequence, it is not fevers,” said Dr. Jamie Loehr, a committee member, in explaining his vote to the committee. “I just wanted to clarify why we have such significant concerns about the possible risk of Guillain-Barre with RSV [vaccination].”