Shares of Moderna Inc.
MRNA,
+0.28%
ran up 3.4% in premarket trading Friday, after the Food and Drug Administration authorized a third shot of COVID-19 vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech for immunocompromised adults. The booster shot will be for people who have undergone organ transplants, who are undergoing chemotherapy and those taking chronic medications that can suppress immune systems. "We recognize the need to protect immunocompromised individuals who are at the highest risk of severe COVID-19 disease," said Moderna Chief Executive Stéphane Bancel. "It is promising to see recent studies demonstrating that a third dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine may enhance immune response in immunocompromised populations." The company said a double-blind, randomized controlled trial of 120 people who had undergone solid organ transplants showed that a third dose of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine improved immune response compared with placebo, and was generally well tolerated. Moderna's early stock rally comes as Pfizer Inc. shares
PFE,
+1.62%
rose 0.7% and BioNTech SE's stock
BNTX,
-0.53%
climbed 3.6%, while futures
ES00,
+0.09%
for the S&P 500
SPX,
+0.06%
gained 0.1%.