Get ready for a BULL open – S&P futures are up 54 points as COVID-19 vaccine trials point to increased success. Vaccine development is a key part of restoring normal economic activity for the US economy and the global economy as a whole.
Further positive developments should support the S&P 500 index and catapult it into the future. Vaccine candidates have been announced in the US for the first time since the Ebola outbreak in 2009. While the virus has made gains, market prospects and valuations for the future have stalled in recent weeks and reversed.
But caution must be exercised in the wake of the Ebola outbreak, especially with regard to vaccine safety and the potential for side effects.
Last Monday, Moderna issued a press release stating that COVID-19, the first of its kind in the United States, has an antibody that binds to and protects against the Ebola virus. In other words, it can produce antibodies that defend cells by neutralizing the virus. This means that the invading agent is no longer infectious and the dose is described as “generally safe and well-tolerated.”
However, an article on the website Statnews quoted vaccine experts who criticized Moderna’s decision to share little or no additional data. They also want more information on the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 and other Ebola vaccines.
Blood samples will be taken for two weeks, which is still the start of the process, according to the same experts. Some believe the vaccine needs more time to show its true effectiveness, while others question the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 and other Ebola vaccines against the Ebola virus.
Dr. Anthony Fauci said he was excited but cautioned that the process would not run into obstacles. Although it is still in its infancy, the vaccine could be ready for use by the end of the year, according to the CDC. Dr. Michael O’Neill, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, said he had reviewed the data and called it “pretty promising,” but cautioned against too much optimism.
The NIAID director responded to the Statnews article by suggesting that the company may have prematurely released details of the study. The information was not complete but had to be published.
Now, the NIAID team would put together the details of the study, and then everyone would have a better view of the actual results of that study.
He said it would take some time to compile the full data on the different doses, but he expects them to be ready in a few weeks. Fauci said he understands the concerns surrounding the lack of information and clarity.
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On Wednesday, Inovio expressed optimism about the preclinical trial data, and the company has already received approval for a phase 2 trial. Fauci said he expects to accelerate the phase 3 trial by early summer.
Inovio added that the presence of antibodies in the lungs of vaccinated animals could provide protection against COVID-19. The coronavirus vaccine candidate, which produces binding and neutralizing antibodies in mice and guinea pigs, was announced in a press release from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In an interview with Reuters, Dr. David Werner, who works at Inovio, said the vaccine targets things that prevent COVID-19 from having a safe haven in the body. Werner added that early data shows what the company wants to achieve with this vaccine, such as the presence of antibodies in the lungs.
Inovio said it expects to publish phase 1 trial data in June, and phase 2 and phase 3 trials are expected to begin in July or August, subject to regulatory approval.
Citron, which has been critical of Inovio for some time, currently has a $2 price target on the stock, but even that report was not without skepticism. Andrew Ng of Citron Research Inc., a well-known short-seller, said, “InovIO has many drugs in trials, but has never put a product on the market.
Crucially, a trial conducted by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford in the UK has proved successful and received approval to move into phase 2. Last week, the U.S. government announced it would invest more than $1 billion in the process.
More than 100 candidates are in the pipeline, but these are not the only potential vaccines, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services.
The vaccine mentioned above is considered one of the best with the potential for success, and an effective vaccine would do much to help the economy recover. In an interview with 60 Minutes, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said that “the economy can only recover if we have a vaccine.
Fauci also said they will begin production of the vaccine once the trials are complete. Admittedly, production will not be at full capacity, but if it is successful, it will be ahead of the approval process. In this way, vaccinations can be administered soon after authorization, and this is a huge benefit for the economy.
This would reduce the fear of contact and allow individuals to interact with each other normally again. Fauci also hopes that this will be the first step in expanding the options available. If the S & P 500 index is to continue to recover, progress on the vaccine front is a must.
If Fauci’s timetable can be met, we could see a healthy recovery in spending growth as we head into the summer. The stock market is likely to rise or fall as more data on the vaccine front and other areas of the economy is released.
