BioNTech Halts Colorectal Cancer Study, Stock Falls 8.4%

A Delaware federal judge on Monday rejected requests from Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna to dismiss lawsuits filed by Bayer's Monsanto unit over their use of US Patent No. 7,741,118, a patent related to mRNA technology, with Judge William Bryson saying the companies failed to prove the patent was invalid or not infringed by their COVID-19 vaccines. Sanofi agreed to a deal worth up to $8B, including $1B upfront, with Regeneron to jointly develop four long-acting immunology therapies, led by the clinical-stage IL-13 monoclonal antibody REGN20423. China's Abogen Biosciences signed a licensing and option agreement with Novartis worth up to $7.8B, comprising a $575 million upfront payment and up to approximately $7.2 billion in potential milestone payments if all options on all programs are exercised, covering an exclusive worldwide license to Abogen's lead asset ABO2203. Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals agreed to license global rights to its experimental obesity drug HRS-1596 to Novo Nordisk in a deal worth up to $2.6B, with $300M upfront and the transaction expected to close in Q4 2026. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 Health Care Sector Index slipped 2.66% for the week, with Incyte down 6.93% and Regeneron down 6.71% among the top decliners, while McKesson rose 4.11% and Cardinal Health gained 3.67%.

Wall Street analysts issued a slew of rating changes this week, led by HSBC's upgrade of Target to Buy from Hold with a price target raised to $190 from $125, citing a turnaround "gaining momentum." Citi downgraded Moderna to Sell from Neutral, calling the valuation "unjustifiable" after the biotech rallied more than 222% since a Phase 3 win for its personalized cancer shot intismeran autogene, and cut its price target to $60 from $80. Deutsche Bank downgraded PepsiCo to Hold from Buy, while Goldman Sachs upgraded Occidental Petroleum to Buy from Neutral with a $69 price target, up from $63, and double-downgraded Tourmaline Oil to Sell from Buy with a C$49 target, cut from C$59. Wells Fargo upgraded Consolidated Edison to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $118 target and BP to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $57 target, while downgrading ExxonMobil to Equal Weight from Overweight with an unchanged $182 target. Morgan Stanley reinstated Nvidia as its top pick in the semiconductor space.

Moderna shares fell 6% in the morning session after Citigroup downgraded the biotechnology company to Sell from Neutral, warning that a 222% rally had pushed its valuation to unsustainable levels. Analyst Meacham wrote in a note to clients that the stock's surge since mid-August's Phase 3 INTerpath-001 melanoma readout reflects aggressive sales forecasts and unrealistic probability-of-success assumptions, according to Tipranks. Reaching a near-$200 share price would require roughly $13 billion in annual oncology revenue attributable to Moderna, nearly seven times Citigroup's model, a hurdle Meacham characterized as unrealistic. The run-up expanded Moderna's market capitalization to roughly $80 billion, rivaling Regeneron despite materially lower expected revenue and earnings, and Meacham added that even under a theoretical 100% probability of success across lead cancer programs, Citigroup's pipeline valuation model justifies only about $100 per share. Moderna is up 520% since the beginning of the year and at $191.35 per share is trading close to its 52-week high of $203.46 from September 2026.