Crude values, US chem shares jump on news of Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine

HOUSTON (ICIS)–US drug maker Moderna announced positive results on Monday from its phase 3 trials on a vaccine for the coronavirus, which boosted global oil prices and most shares of US-listed chemical companies.

The company said in a release that the phase 3 study of its vaccine candidate showed 94.5% efficacy when tested among more than 30,000 participants in the US.

This is the second study on a vaccine for the coronavirus to show positive results in as many weeks.

US pharmaceutical major Pfizer announced last week that the coronavirus vaccine it is developing in partnership with German immunotherapy specialist BioNTech is at least 90% effective based on clinical trials.

Moderna is working with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Operation Warp Speed and McKesson, a coronavirus vaccine distributor contracted by the US government.

The company said that by the end of 2020, they expect to have about 20m doses ready to ship in the US and remains on track to manufacture 500m to 1bn doses globally in 2021.

“This positive interim analysis from our Phase 3 study has given us the first clinical validation that our vaccine can prevent Covid-19 disease, including severe disease,” said Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel.

Global economies have faced headwinds from the demand erosion associated with efforts to stop the spread of the virus.

Markets were off from intraday highs, where it hit an intraday record.

The following shows the major indices followed by ICIS.

	16-Nov	Change	%
Dow Jones Industrial Average	29,897.76	417.95	1.42
S&P 500	3,620.53	35.38	0.99
Dow Jones US Chemicals Index	714.81	11.26	1.6
S&P 500 Chemicals Industry Index	721.58	10.89	1.53

Oil prices also rallied on the news.

	16-Nov	13-Nov	Change	%
Brent	44.15	42.78	1.37	3.2
WTI	41.51	40.13	1.38	3.44

Click here to view the ICIS Coronavirus, oil price crash – impact on chemicals topic page.