Changes in US stocks | The biotech sector generally fell, and Merck (MRK.US) fell more than 2%

The Zhitong Finance App learned that on Thursday, the biotech sector generally fell, with Lilly (LLY.US) falling more than 3%, MRK.US (MRK.US) falling more than 2%, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.US) falling 2%, and Novo Nordisk (NVO.US) and ABBV.US (ABBV.US) falling more than 1%.

Recently, clinical-stage vaccine company Vaxcyte announced the results of the VAX‑31 key phase III trial of the 31-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine for adults. The news affected the sentiment of the entire pharmaceutical sector. According to this clinical data, VAX‑31 has good safety performance and has reached non-inferior efficacy standards for serotypes covered by the current mainstream 20-valent and 21-valent vaccines. The company plans to submit a listing application to the FDA in the first half of 2028. Although there is still a long cycle until the commercialization of the product, the capital market already sees this high-priced vaccine as an important sign of the reshaping of the pneumonia vaccine circuit pattern.

Under the transmission of market sentiment, MSD, the leader in the industry, received a lot of attention. MSD holds the commercialized 21-valent pneumococcal vaccine and is a key player in the global adult pneumonia vaccine circuit. VAX‑31 raised the coverage of serotypes to 31, and the market is expecting that if subsequent approval is successful and commercialization is in place, the new product may put direct competitive pressure on MSD's existing main products.