Moderna’s (MRNA) stock gains on COVID-19 vaccine approval from the European Commission

Shares of Moderna Inc. (NASDAQ: MRNA) gained 6.3% in afternoon hours on Wednesday as the company received approval from the European Commission for its COVID-19 vaccine. The stock has skyrocketed over 545% in the past one year and has gained 60% over the past three months.  

Approvals

The European Commission granted a conditional marketing authorization (CMA) to Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine based on the recommendation of the European Medicines Agency, paving the way for the rollout of vaccination programs across the European Union. The EU is the fourth region to approve Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine. It has secured 160 million doses with the first deliveries set to begin next week.

On Monday, Moderna received authorization for its vaccine from the Ministry of Health in Israel. The MOH secured 6 million doses of the vaccine with deliveries expected to begin shortly. In December, Moderna received approval for its vaccine in the US and Canada. The company is undergoing review for authorizations in Singapore, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Supply update

On Monday, Moderna provided a supply update on its vaccine. The company increased its base-case global production estimate from 500 million doses to 600 million doses for 2021, and is working to build up to potentially 1 billion doses for 2021.

Moderna expects about 100 million doses to be available in the US by the end of the first quarter of 2021, with a total of 200 million doses available by the end of the second quarter. Thus far, approx. 18 million doses have been supplied to the US government. The US government has agreed to purchase 200 million doses of the vaccine with options to purchase an additional 300 million doses. The Canadian government has agreed to purchase 40 million doses.

Moderna has supply agreements with several countries to provide them with the COVID-19 vaccine. In December, the company entered into an agreement with the government of the Republic of Korea to provide 40 million doses of the vaccine, with deliveries set to begin in May 2021. Moderna is yet to receive approval for the vaccine in the country. The company has entered into agreements with Singapore and the UK as well to supply its COVID-19 vaccine.

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