Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) shares are trading higher Wednesday, moving in sympathy with mRNA cancer vaccine-related companies after Merck & Co Inc (NYSE:MRK) and Moderna Inc (NASDAQ:MRNA) announced that their combination therapy of intismeran autogene and Keytruda showed positive recurrence-free survival results in melanoma patients.
Pfizer stock is among today’s top performers. Why are PFE shares rallying?
Pfizer’s BioNTech Ties Make it an mRNA Proxy
Pfizer’s move today comes largely from its standing as one of the market’s go-to mRNA proxies, thanks to its long-running partnership with BioNTech SE (NASDAQ:BNTX). That relationship gave Pfizer an equity stake in BionNTech, and the two companies still work together on updated vaccine formulations built on BioNTech’s mRNA platform.
With Merck and Moderna validating mRNA-based cancer treatment as a real clinical path forward, investors appear to be extending some of that optimism to Pfizer given its own ties to the underlying technology.
