AstraZeneca Has Lost The Lead In Race For Coronavirus Vaccine, Says SVB Leerink

AstraZeneca plc's prospects at being the first mover in the competition to develop a coronavirus vaccine have dimmed, according to an analyst at SVB Leerink. The AstraZeneca Analyst: Andrew Berens has an Outperform rating on AstraZeneca with a $65 price target. The AstraZeneca Takeaways: The clinical trial hold on AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine candidate AZD1222, which remains in place other than in the U.K., and the relatively higher number of COVID-19 cases needed for an interim analysis suggest the British drug maker may have ceded the lead, Berens said in a Monday note. This means AstraZeneca's vaccine candidate may not be the first to receive emergency use authorization, the analyst said.