JUN LI/iStock via Getty Images Several vaccine makers closed Wednesday up with double-digit percentage gains amid a report of the first avian flu case in a human in Australia and a second case in the U.S. CureVac ( NASDAQ: CVAC ) was a top performer of the day, closing up ~19% .
It has an avian influenza (H5N1) vaccine in phase 1 in partnership with GSK ( GSK ). Moderna ( NASDAQ: MRNA ) ended the day up ~14%, its biggest one-day gain since 2022. The company told Barron's it has a vaccine in phase 2 development that targets an avian influenza virus in the same family as the one involved with the present outbreak.
BioNTech ( NASDAQ: BNTX ) closed up ~11% . Although the German company doesn't have a bird flu vaccine in development, its experience with mRNA vaccines for COVID-19 means it could potentially develop a bird flu vaccine quickly. Novavax ( NVAX ), which is focused on vaccines, closed up ~5% , and even Pfizer ( PFE ), which partnered with BioNTech on COVID vaccines, closed ~4% higher .
Although the CDC has stated the risk of bird flu to humans is still low, it says it has two existing H5N1 candidate vaccine viruses -- viruses used to make vaccine -- "already available to manufacturers, and which could be used to make vaccine if needed." In April, a senior HHS official told NBC News that the federal government could have 100M doses of a bird flu vaccine shipped out in three to four months if an outbreak occurs. However, given that an individual would need two doses for f.