Regeneron Monoclonal Antibody Data Increases Probability Of COVID-19 Vaccine Success - Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley's BioPharma analyst Matthew Harrison highlighted that Regeneron's (NASDAQ: REGN) initial data testing monoclonal antibody cocktail REGN-COV2 in non-hospitalized SARS-CoV-2 patients increases the probability of success for certain COVID-19 vaccines.

The analyst notes that data from the placebo group demonstrated that individuals that mount an immune response against SARS-CoV-2 (seropositive) achieved a faster alleviation of their symptoms (in ~7 days) compared to seronegative individuals (in ~13 days).

"We believe these data highlight the importance of the humoral immune response in the ability to clear the infection," the analyst said. "Regeneron also presented data suggesting a correlation between serological status and baseline viral load, while demonstrating that REGN-COV2 may compensate for a weak natural-immune response."

"Consequently, these data provide supporting evidence that the humoral immune response and/or neutralizing antibodies could potentially reduce the viral burden and alleviate symptoms faster," Harrison said. "We believe these data partially de-risk the most advanced vaccine candidates targeting the spike protein, while also shedding light on the
unique immune response that defines COVID-19."

Vaccine Stocks:

• AstraZeneca (NASDAQ: AZN)
• BioNTech SE (NASDAQ: BNTX)
• Merck (NYSE: MRK)
• Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA)
• Pfizer (NYSE: PFE)
• Sanofi (NASDAQ: SNY)
• Novavax (NASDAQ: NVAX)

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