Moderna Leads S&P 500 After FDA Eases Booster Concerns

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) shares soared to the top of the S&P 500 gainers in early afternoon trading on May 20, surging by 11%. The rise followed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) announcement that it would require new clinical trials to approve annual COVID-19 boosters for healthy Americans under 65, alleviating concerns that these vaccines might be taken off the market.

According to the FDA's announcement, a sizable majority of the population would still be able to obtain annual booster shots, even though their availability this fall would be restricted to older adults and those possessing higher risk of serious illness. Moreover, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary and Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research Director Vinay Prasad explained in The New England Journal of Medicine stated that before granting biologics license applications, the agency expects to receive data from randomized, controlled trials assessing clinical outcomes for all healthy individuals between the ages of 6 months and 64 years.

Given that it points towards a sustained need for COVID-19 vaccines and booster shots, the prospect of additional trials has been greeted with optimism. FDA officials maintain that these studies are necessary to ensure that annual vaccinations for healthy Americans are evidence-based, despite vaccine manufacturers' earlier claims that new placebo-controlled trials might delay the release of the shots.

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