The selling pressure in BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) is proving more catastrophic than bulls expected. The stock fell 18.53% in the final week of 2020. Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) fell by 20%, while Sorrento (NASDAQ:SRNE) and Inovio (NASDAQ:INO) fell by 20% and 12%, respectively. Only AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) rose slightly.
Why are COVID-19 vaccine makers dropping?
Market speculators decided to book profits for the year and sell the stocks on the news. Now that AZN, BNTX, and Moderna are shipping vaccines, the market may estimate the annual revenue from the COVID-19 vaccine. Still, the slow administration of the vaccine is a concern. Other operational hiccups could scare off investors.
Efficacy of Vaccine
Moderna and BioNTech published high vaccine efficacy in clinical trials. The firms still have real-world data to collect. No one knows yet if the immune response shown in the studies will result in protection from the virus. If the vaccine does not protect people, then that would threaten the vaccine sales. It would deter an already skeptical population from taking the vaccine.
The drug companies did not report many side effects from the vaccine. As it administers the vaccine to tens of millions of people chances increase that at least a few people will report a reaction.
The drop in the aforementioned vaccine stocks creates another buying opportunity for investors.
