Shares of Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) and other vaccine stocks rose on Wednesday after Australia reported its first human case of avian influenza.
Moderna gained 13.7%, Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) rose 3.6%, BioNTech SE (NASDAQ:BNTX) jumped 11% and CureVac N.V. (CVAC) rallied 18%.
In a note to clients following the news, analysts at UBS said, "mRNA vaccines offer unprecedented speed/capabilities."
They added that while few human cases are confirmed, they note that "very little is known about the potential for human transmission and [the] broader public health risk."
UBS also noted that a "top investor inbound has been on [the] size of [the] recent stock move."
Elsewhere, Bloomberg reported that Moderna and Pfizer are in talks with the US on H5N1 bird flu vaccines.