Merck and Moderna Cancer Vaccine Success Lifts Five Biotech Stocks

A Delaware federal judge on Monday rejected requests from Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna to dismiss lawsuits filed by Bayer's Monsanto unit over their use of US Patent No. 7,741,118, a patent related to mRNA technology, with Judge William Bryson saying the companies failed to prove the patent was invalid or not infringed by their COVID-19 vaccines. Sanofi agreed to a deal worth up to $8B, including $1B upfront, with Regeneron to jointly develop four long-acting immunology therapies, led by the clinical-stage IL-13 monoclonal antibody REGN20423. China's Abogen Biosciences signed a licensing and option agreement with Novartis worth up to $7.8B, comprising a $575 million upfront payment and up to approximately $7.2 billion in potential milestone payments if all options on all programs are exercised, covering an exclusive worldwide license to Abogen's lead asset ABO2203. Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals agreed to license global rights to its experimental obesity drug HRS-1596 to Novo Nordisk in a deal worth up to $2.6B, with $300M upfront and the transaction expected to close in Q4 2026. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 Health Care Sector Index slipped 2.66% for the week, with Incyte down 6.93% and Regeneron down 6.71% among the top decliners, while McKesson rose 4.11% and Cardinal Health gained 3.67%.

Wall Street analysts issued a slew of rating changes this week, led by HSBC's upgrade of Target to Buy from Hold with a price target raised to $190 from $125, citing a turnaround "gaining momentum." Citi downgraded Moderna to Sell from Neutral, calling the valuation "unjustifiable" after the biotech rallied more than 222% since a Phase 3 win for its personalized cancer shot intismeran autogene, and cut its price target to $60 from $80. Deutsche Bank downgraded PepsiCo to Hold from Buy, while Goldman Sachs upgraded Occidental Petroleum to Buy from Neutral with a $69 price target, up from $63, and double-downgraded Tourmaline Oil to Sell from Buy with a C$49 target, cut from C$59. Wells Fargo upgraded Consolidated Edison to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $118 target and BP to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $57 target, while downgrading ExxonMobil to Equal Weight from Overweight with an unchanged $182 target. Morgan Stanley reinstated Nvidia as its top pick in the semiconductor space.