Попередні вакцинні акції «зчепилися» з популярністю вірусу Хантан і різко зросли, розкриваючи, що ведуться кілька ранніх досліджень

local time on Friday, biotechnology stock Moderna (Moderna), known for developing the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine, surged by 11.97%. On the news, the company revealed that it is researching a vaccine to prevent hantavirus.

Although public health experts emphasize that the transmission method of hantavirus is quite different from COVID-19 and the threat to the general public remains low, this news still drove the company’s stock price to soar, approaching the high levels since the end of 2024.

(Source: TradingView)

However, the company’s stock price is still 90% below the high point during the COVID-19 pandemic period.

In a statement sent to the media, Moderna stated that the company had previously conducted early-stage research on a hantavirus vaccine in collaboration with the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases. Additionally, the company is working with the Vaccine Innovation Center at Korea University College of Medicine to develop a potential immunization solution. The related research was initiated before the recent spread event on the “Honduras” cruise ship.

Earlier that day, Moderna also disclosed that the results of its Phase III influenza mRNA vaccine trial were better than expected.

The company wrote: “These projects are still in early development stages and are ongoing. This also reflects Moderna’s broader responsibility in developing protective measures against emerging infectious diseases.”

Whether the capital market fluctuations around hantavirus can continue largely depends on whether the spread event on the “Honduras” cruise ship can be quickly contained.

The “Honduras” cruise ship will arrive in Tenerife, Spain, this Sunday, at which point non-Spanish residents on board will be sent back to their respective countries. According to statistics, affected countries include Argentina, Cape Verde, the Netherlands, the UK, the US, Denmark, Germany, the Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, and France.

It is reported that 14 Spanish residents on the ship will be sent to a hospital in Madrid for quarantine observation. The CDC will send a team to Spain to bring affected Americans back to the National Quarantine Center in Nebraska.

Countries are also tracking the 32 passengers disembarked at the end of April, as well as those who had close contact with them.

Humans have known about hantavirus for half a century, and this virus is usually transmitted by infected rats. The virus related to the cruise ship incident is the Andes strain, which is the only known variant capable of human-to-human transmission, typically requiring close, long-term contact, with an incubation period usually ranging from 1 to 6 weeks.

Based on the transmission history of hantavirus over the past decades, medical experts also doubt whether pharmaceutical companies are willing to invest funds in developing new vaccines. Currently, China and South Korea have inactivated hantavirus vaccines for hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS), but these target Eurasian strains; there is still a lack of mature, market-ready vaccines for the strains circulating in the Americas.

Professor Sabra Klein from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health told the media: “Funding agencies are unlikely to invest large sums because it is unlikely to trigger the next epidemic or pandemic.”

Meanwhile, because such infections tend to occur sporadically and disproportionately affect poorer countries, pharmaceutical companies lack the motivation to invest.

Matt Slade, founder of the mRNA vaccine startup EnsiliTech, said that even if this virus is reignited by the cruise ship incident, vaccine development must have a strong commercial logic. The company is developing an mRNA vaccine targeting the hantavirus strains prevalent in East Asia, but it will take at least several years to reach clinical trials.

Slade stated: “Unfortunately, hantavirus tends to circulate in regions without sufficient funding support, so it has always lacked attention.”

Ofer Levy, director of the Boston Children’s Hospital Precision Vaccines Program, also mentioned that the US has a history of human exposure to hantavirus dating back to World War II, when the US military was deployed to Central Europe. The US military had previously expressed interest in investing in hantavirus vaccine development. However, due to the relatively rare outbreaks of this virus globally, related R&D funding has always been an issue.

（Source: Caixin）