Moderna's stock soared 6%. The company is developing a vaccine against hantavirus

Shares of biotechnology company Moderna during trading on May 11 jumped by 6.5% after growth of 12% on Friday. As a result, quotations updated the maximum for more than two months.

Investors are reacting to news of a hantavirus outbreak on the cruise ship MV Hondius, Barron's explains. Several tourists who were on the ship have died as a result of infection with the Andes strain. Hantavirus, which causes severe organ damage, is usually transmitted to humans through contact with rodents. But, unlike other subtypes, the Andes strain common in the Americas is transmitted from person to person.

WHO categorizes hantaviruses as potential pathogens in the "Disease X" category - that is, viruses that could cause a future epidemic.

Moderna conducted early hantavirus research with the Center for Vaccine Innovation at Korea University College of Medicine, the partners announced in 2024. Korea University provided Moderna with the genetic sequences of hantavirus antigens, after which Moderna created the corresponding mRNA materials for preclinical studies. The researchers then tested antigen expression and immune response. The goal of the research was to create a broader-spectrum vaccine than existing Korean vaccines against single strains of hantavirus.

According to South Korean media, a research team led by Professor Park Ma Man-seong reported in February 2025 that an experimental vaccine showed protection of mice against infection with hantavirus. However, the project has not yet reached human clinical trials.

Investors should not overestimate the significance of this news about ongoing research, Evercore analysts warned last week. In their view, there is no "significant revenue [growth] potential" for Moderna on the back of these reports, and the stock "often reacts much more strongly to news of disease outbreaks than is warranted by commercial prospects," the investment bank Barron's quoted a note as saying. The analysts emphasize that hantavirus remains "a rare disease with a small structural market," while "an mRNA vaccine candidate against hantavirus is at a very early stage of development." Even if the stock were to show "disproportionately strong moves," this, the analysts said, would only "emphasize the flexibility of Moderna's mRNA platform, a quality that the market already understands well after COVID."

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor