Investors sold off shares of several coronavirus vaccine-related stocks on Friday as lawmakers ramp up pressure on drugmakers.
By the close of trading, shares of Vaxart (NASDAQ: VXRT), Inovio Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: INO), BioNTech (NASDAQ: BNTX), and Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA) were down 11.3%, 10.9%, 4.9%, and 2.8%, respectively.
In hearings that took place this week, lawmakers grilled drug companies on their pricing plans for their potential vaccines, with some going so far as to ask executives at companies including Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, and AstraZeneca if they would supply their vaccines at cost. "We will not sell it at cost, no," Moderna President Dr. Stephen Hoge said during a congressional hearing on Tuesday.