Healthcare Roundup – Futures add to big gains on vaccine hopes after Pfizer interim data, China vaccine trial suspended after ‘severe adverse event’

Published on: November 9, 2020
Author: Amy Liu

Futures add to big gains on vaccine hopes after Pfizer interim data; WFH plays head south

Already sharply higher on the session, S&P 500 (SP500) and DJIA (DJI) futures are up 3.6% and 5.1%, respectively after early data from the Pfizer (NYSE:PFE)/BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTXvaccine shows 90% effectiveness seven days after the second dose.

Most interesting, Nasdaq (COMP) futures are giving up some ground on the news, now up just 0.85% on the session. The Nasdaq, of course, houses many of pandemic-related work-from-home rocketships of the past few months.

Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) are modestly in the red premarket. Peloton (NASDAQ:PTON) and Zoom (NASDAQ:ZM) are down more than 5%. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), and Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) are higher, but underperforming the averages.

Other large beneficiaries of the work-from-home environment, like camera and accessory maker Logitech (NASDAQ:LOGI) and Teledoc (NYSE:TDOC) are also lower.

Among the hardest-hit and slowest recovering sectors of the pandemic, the financials (NYSEARCA:XLF) and energy (NYSEARCA:XLE) are each up more than 6%. Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) is higher by 6.3%. Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) by 5.6%.

China vaccine trial suspended after ‘severe adverse event’

Brazil’s health regulator says it suspended clinical trials for Sinovac Biotech’s (NASDAQ:SVA) coronavirus vaccine because of a “severe adverse effect” in a final-stage trial, marking the first serious setback for any of China’s rapidly developed COVID-19 shots.

The health regulator, Anvisa, did not specify whether the incident occurred in Brazil – where trials are being conducted – or in another country.

China already has started administering vaccines, including  Sinovac’s, to hundreds of thousands of people under an expansive emergency use approval, making the prospect of a safety issue being detected at this stage more concerning.

Just three weeks ago, preliminary results indicated Sinovac’s Coronavac had appeared to be safe in a late-stage clinical trial in Brazil.

Eli Lilly gets emergency OK for COVID-19 treatment bamlanivimab; shares +4.7%

Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) has received emergency use authorization from the FDA for bamlanivimab, a treatment for mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in adult and pediatric patients.

Lilly says it will begin shipping the treatment immediately to AmerisourceBergen (NYSE:ABC), which will distribute it as directed by the government’s allocation program. The government will allocate 300,000 doses to high-risk patients at no out-of-pocket cost.

Safety and effectiveness continue to be evaluated, but bamlanivimab was shown in clinical trials to reduce COVID-19 hospitalization and ER visits in patients at high risk for disease progression within 28 days after treatment when compared to placebo.

It’s not authorized for patients who are hospitalized or require oxygen therapy.

Shares are starting to move, up 4.7% postmarket.

Zogenix EPS misses by $0.08, beats on revenue

Zogenix (NASDAQ:ZGNX): Q3 GAAP EPS of -$1.08 misses by $0.08.

Revenue of $2.86M (+354.0% Y/Y) beats by $0.51M.

The Company had $525.2M in cash, equivalents, and marketable securities, reflecting the issuance of a $200M convertible bond on September 28, 2020.

Shares -2.60%.

NanoString EPS beats by $0.10, beats on revenue

NanoString (NASDAQ:NSTG): Q3 GAAP EPS of -$0.56 beats by $0.10.

Revenue of $31.84M (+4.1% Y/Y) beats by $3.05M.

Shares +0.1%.

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