Vax off, vax on... Pfizer and BioNTech shares soared on positive data from their COVID-19 vaccine trial. The big pharma companies unveiled an aggressive timeline: Pfizer expects to manufacture up to 100M doses by the end of 2020, and over 1B by end of 2021. Like smaller biotech company Moderna, Pfizer is testing an mRNA vaccine (these have never been approved for human use). Others like Johnson & Johnson are testing more OG traditional candidates. And both types of vaccines are receiving billions in US gov funding.
Double Kardashian makeover... Coty stock jumped after its latest Kardashian investment: the cosmetics giant is dishing out $200M for a 20% stake in Kim Kardashian's makeup brand KKW Beauty. Sales of Coty's own and licensed products (picture CoverGirl makeup and Burberry perfume) have been falling. Now investors hope Insta-famous, direct-to-consumer brands like KKW and Kylie Cosmetics can give 116-year-old Coty a fresh glow.