Shares of Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA) were soaring earlier this month when the company released interim results from its mRNA vaccine. Investors were bullish on the possible COVID-19 vaccine, sending the stock to an all-time high of $87. It's since fallen more than 35% since then as some of the hype's waned. Coronavirus stocks like Moderna are especially volatile surrounding news related to any treatments or vaccines. And in Moderna's case, investors have simply been too bullish on the results, and here's why.
When Moderna released interim data from its phase 1 study, the results were encouraging. The company found that of the antibody data that it had on people in its study who it vaccinated, all of them had developed neutralizing antibodies against the coronavirus. While that was definitely an encouraging sign, data was only available on eight participants and Moderna has vaccinated dozens thus far. From a scientific perspective, it's encouraging because it's a good first step in the process. Phase 1 results are always limited in that they don't involve a large scale of participants.
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