Moderna Inc (NASDAQ:MRNA, XETRA:0QF) shares continued to extend recent gains on Monday as investors welcomed reports that the company is researching a hantavirus vaccine and advancing early-stage work in the area.
Shares of Moderna have added more than 16% in the last five days, trading hands at about $55.
Moderna has attracted investor attention due to its ongoing early-stage work on a hantavirus vaccine as part of its broader infectious disease research pipeline.
Despite the recent momentum, the commercial opportunity associated with hantavirus is generally viewed as limited given its relatively low incidence.
Hantavirus has recently made headlines after three passengers on a cruise ship in the Atlantic died earlier this month from hantavirus, a rare rodent-borne disease.
The virus is not spread between people in the same way as respiratory illnesses such as Covid-19, with infections typically linked to exposure to infected rodents.