Moderna's concerns about Omicron outlook spark market slump

The companies that bet on messenger RNA vaccines -- BioNTech SE and its partner Pfizer Inc. as well as Moderna -- have an advantage in that they can be swift to develop a new injection

Moderna Inc.’s top executives reiterated that the omicron variant’s many mutations suggest new vaccines will be needed, triggering a slump in financial markets. 
 

“The number of mutations on this virus are surprising,” co-founder Noubar Afeyan said in a Bloomberg Television interview.  “We have to take it for the serious threat that it poses.” 

At a time of uncertainty about omicron’s impact on the pandemic’s course and world economies, the comments fueled a new round of concern. Chief Executive Officer Stephane Bancel, in an interview with the Financial Times, predicted a “material drop” in the existing shots’ efficacy and damped expectations new