In this Motley Fool Live video recorded on March 26, healthcare and cannabis bureau chief Corinne Cardina and Fool.com contributor Adria Cimino discuss three companies that are working on a crucial element for future coronavirus vaccine success -- fighting emerging strains of concern.
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Corinne Cardina: If we zoom out a little bit timeline-wise and look at three to five years, I think, a lot of us are expecting the pandemic to be under control, quote-unquote, at least hopefully, by a year from now. Let's talk about what vaccine makers could be positioned to benefit post-pandemic? Are any of the three vaccines that are authorized in the U.S. a buy today, if you take a much longer look?
Adria Cimino: I think so. As I said, I think Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA), definitely. They are looking at strain-specific boosters, so they're definitely one I'd consider. Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), I say, buy those for their whole portfolio, not specifically for the vaccine. They're not really moving -- The shares are not moving on that news. As far as other companies, I would say, Novavax (NASDAQ: NVAX) as we spoke of, that's a good opportunity. I would say, there are two other interesting technologies. There is Gritstone (NASDAQ: GRTS), which is a small company in very early stage, so it's risky, but they're going to start a phase 1 trial on a candidate that includes spike protein and other viral genes. That means they're less vulnerable to mutations in the spike. It could be a good solution if new variants come up in the future. So that's one. Another one is Inovio (NASDAQ: INO). Inovio has some interesting technology. It's not the program now that's closer to market, but they are working on a pan-COVID vaccine. It uses a gene optimization algorithm to look at sequences from today's strains. Then, the idea is to create a synthetic spike protein to cover today's variants and variants of the future. We have to see if this works. This is really early-stage, they just spoke of it, but this is something to keep an eye on. It could be very interesting in the future, a really cool technology.
Adria Cimino has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Corinne Cardina owns shares of Moderna Inc.. The Motley Fool recommends Johnson & Johnson and Moderna Inc.. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
