Moderna entered the S&P 500 today, amid increasing global fears around the Delta variant.

                By                    Yaёl Bizouati-Kennedy

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The stock is replacing Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. in the S&P 500 effective prior to the opening of trading on Wed., July 21, according to a statement. AstraZeneca is acquiring Alexion Pharmaceuticals in a deal expected to be completed soon pending final closing conditions.

Moderna saw a gain of 194% so far in 2021 and its share performance tops the index’s existing leader, L Brands Inc., which has risen 100%, Bloomberg reports.

As of this morning, the stock was down 3.30%.

“Moderna didn’t have a commercial drug in the market until early 2020, and now we are seeing them go from a $5 billion stock to over $120 billion stock on one product,” Hancock says.

“And 10 years ago, they had a $1 billion valuation based on the promise of their mRNA technology and now we have seen the massive payoff for early investors. Biotech breakthroughs and the related soaring valuations always hinge on one important development at the right time and that is why the extreme risk-reward relationship is often so attractive for investors,” he adds.

Last month, the company addressed the Delta variant, saying that it remains committed to studying emerging variants, generating data and sharing it as it becomes available.

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“These new data are encouraging and reinforce our belief that the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine should remain protective against newly detected variants,” Stéphane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer of Moderna, said in a statement.

The company will report its second-quarter earnings on August 5. In May, it reported its first-quarter earnings, beating earnings per share estimates and reporting its first profit ever, thanks to its COVID-19 vaccine.

“In the first quarter, the Moderna team delivered on its supply commitments to many governments and helped protect more than 100 million people. This accomplishment translated into our first profitable quarter in the company’s history, after 10 years of scientific innovation and several billion dollars invested to make our mRNA platform a reality,” CEO Bancel said in the earnings release at the time.

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