Pfizer, BioNTech stocks surge after FDA grants emergency use of BA.4, BA.5 adapted booster shots in children

Shares of Pfizer Inc. PFE, +1.28% climbed 2.2% and BioNTech SE BNTX, +6.83% hiked up 5.5% in morning trading Wednesday, after the companies said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for its omicron bivalent COVID-19 booster vaccine for children aged 5 through 11. The drug makers said pending recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the 10-ug booster doses, adapted for the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants, will be shipped immediately. Pfizer’s stock has lost 17.7% over the past three months and BioNTech shares have shed 15.2%, while the S&P 500 SPX, +0.23% has lost 5.7%. The EUA comes about two weeks after the companies said they were seeking FDA authorization. Fellow drug maker Modena Inc. MRNA, +10.98% has also submitted a request for its bivalent vaccine booster for children of ages 6 to 11, and for adolescents aged 12. to 17.