Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA) and Novavax (NASDAQ: NVAX) are two of the hottest companies in biotech, thanks to a long summer of wild growth and positive clinical trial results. Neither company has a proven track record, recurring revenue, products on the market, or anything approaching profitability. But both have rapidly progressing coronavirus vaccine programs funded in part by the U.S. government, and both have seen their stock prices soar over the last year as a result of speculation.
It's impossible to predict whether one of the two might eventually win the coronavirus vaccine race, though right now it looks like Moderna's program is more advanced. Is this early-mover advantage enough to make Moderna a better stock, or does Novavax have a few tricks up its sleeve to level the playing field? To answer this question and decide which is the better option for investors, we'll need to investigate what each company has in its favor aside from their coronavirus candidates.
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