Vaccine Makers Receive Stock Boost After Third Human Bird Flu Case in U.S.

Shares in some companies that produce vaccines have seen stock boosts following a small number of reports of bird flu among people in the U.S.

On Wednesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced a second case of a farmworker contracting the "highly pathogenic avian influenza virus" H5N1 from dairy cows in Michigan, which is a disease "caused by infection with avian influenza Type A viruses."

These viruses can also spread among wild aquatic birds worldwide and can infect domestic poultry and other bird and animal species.

The latest case followed reports on April 1 that a dairy worker in Texas had previously been diagnosed with bird flu, while the only other human case in the U.S. was detected in a Colorado poultry worker in April 2022, raising concerns that bird flu could spread further among humans.

While the CDC said the risk to humans remains low, with the only symptom reported by people with the infection being conjunctivitis, shares went up in some companies that could develop a vaccine if a bird flu pandemic materializes.

CureVac, a Germany-based company, announced an early-stage H5N1 vaccine trial in collaboration with GSK last month. Its shares rose 18 percent, while GSK's gained 7.87 percent.

In the past month, Moderna, which is in discussions with the U.S. government over advancing its flu vaccine development, gained 13.7 percent.

BioNTech rose 11 percent in the last month, while Pfizer's share price increased by 12.46 percent, according to Google Finance data.

Newsweek has contacted the companies mentioned for comment via email.

Including the U.S. cases, there have been eight human bird flu infections worldwide.

Earlier this month, government officials said they were looking into vaccines against bird flu that could be ready within weeks.

A Moderna spokesperson told Newsweek: "Moderna can confirm we are in discussions with the U.S. government on advancing our pandemic flu candidate, mRNA-1018. The Phase 1/2 dosing of mRNA-1018 is complete, with data expected soon. The H5 vaccines in this trial cover the same clade as the currently circulating variant in the United States. We remain committed to using our mRNA platform to respond to public health concerns."

A GSK spokesperson added to Newsweek: "GSK is closely monitoring the H5N1 situation and the evolving epidemiology. We are directly connected with our contractual partners to deliver on our commitments in the event that an influenza pandemic is declared.

"GSK is committed to helping authorities around the world to be better prepared for future pandemics, including a potential pandemic influenza outbreak. In 2022 GSK was awarded multi-year contracts with the U.S., Canada, the EU and the WHO to supply our pandemic preparedness vaccine if the World Health Organization declares an influenza pandemic. These contracts will support the ready production and supply of this vaccine, and together could provide at least 200 million doses of pandemic influenza vaccine around the world."

The nine states where H5N1 has been detected in cows as of Wednesday are: Texas, Michigan, Ohio, North Carolina, Kansas, South Dakota, Idaho, Colorado and New Mexico. A total of 52 herds are believed to be affected.

The virus has also been discovered in poultry in 48 states and 524 counties, affecting over 90 million birds as of Wednesday. The CDC says that bird flu has also been found in tests of 9,352 wild birds.

One in five commercial milk samples have tested positive for genetic traces of the virus. However, these traces are not capable of causing an infection in pasteurized milk.

The CDC recommends the following actions to keep people safe from bird flu: avoid direct contact with wild birds, report sick or dead birds to local authorities and avoid unprotected direct physical contact or close exposure to cattle.

Update 05/23/24, 10:31 a.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from a Moderna spokesperson.

Update 05/24/24, 05:48 a.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from a GSK spokesperson.