Head of Saxo Strats
Summary: A vaccine against COVID-19 is critical for society and to get the economy back on track. We've looked at the WHO's official list of 76 vaccine candidates being tested, found the companies involved with developing them and detailed those you can trade via Saxo's trading platform. The potential is big for the company that develops the right vaccine, but it also comes with very high risk.
Health experts agree that a vaccine is key to fighting the COVID-19 global pandemic and restoring life and the economy to what it was. The fastest vaccine ever developed in human history took four years, but the community of universities and biotechnology companies feel confident that through global collaboration a COVID-19 vaccine can be ready in 18 months. The race is on. The WHO published a list of 76 vaccine candidates on 20 April and this is now the official list. We have no knowledge of which company will win the race to find a vaccine against COVID-19. But we have found all the companies with Saxo ticker codes, so that it’s easier for you to identify the companies that can offer you exposure to this potential upside. It's important to recognise that investing in this opportunity comes with very high risk as some of the companies are illiquid and have small market values. But in general the risks of developing a vaccine are high, as you are competing against many other companies and universities. More importantly a vaccine is not just a vaccine as each comes with different coverage ratio of the various mutations but also with different risk profiles for the various age cohorts.
Companies on the WHO vaccine list, which you can trade via SaxoTraderGO, ordered by market cap.
| Saxo ticker | Company | Return YTD, pct. (LCY) | Mkt. cap (USD mn.) |
| PFE:xnys | Pfizer Inc | 0.1 | 215332 |
| MRNA:xnas | Moderna Inc | 144.7 | 17643 |
| 600196:xssc | Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical | 28.5 | 11685 |
| BNTX:xnas | BioNTech SE | 42.6 | 10960 |
| APDN:xnas | Takara Bio Inc | 23.0 | 2860 |
| 4563:xtks | AnGes Inc | 154.0 | 1881 |
| INO:xnas | Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc | 205.5 | 1471 |
| NVAX:xnas | Novavax Inc | 333.2 | 999 |
| ARCT:xnas | Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings | 272.2 | 804 |
| DVAX:xnas | Dynavax Technologies Corp | -29.2 | 355 |
| VXRT:xnas | Vaxart Inc | 627.5 | 181 |
| IMV:xtse | IMV Inc | -25.5 | 110 |
| IBIO:xase | iBio Inc | 323.7 | 107 |
| ALT:xnas | Altimmune Inc | 61.9 | 47 |
| HTBX:xnas | Heat Biologics Inc | 15.1 | 45 |
| IPA:xtsx | ImmunoPrecise Antibodies Ltd | 32.8 | 38 |
| EXPRS2:xome | Expres2ion Biotech Holding AB | 380.7 | 30 |
For more coronavirus trading inspiration, check the coronavirus section in SaxoTraderGO.
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As US economic slowdown hints at a shift away from exceptionalism, USD faces downside with looming Fed cuts. AUD and NZD set to outperform as their rate cuts lag. JPY gains on carry unwind bets and BOJ pivot.
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