Merck Kicks Off Human Covid-19 Vaccine Trial In Belgium- Report

Merck & Co. (MRK) has now started testing its experimental Covid-19 vaccine candidate V591 in healthy volunteers, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.

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The Phase 1 / 2 trial, which will take place in Belgium with 260 enrolled subjects, was reported by Merck on a government database and confirmed by the company, says the Wall Street Journal.

According to the publisher, Merck said that dosing in study subjects has begun, but did not provide further comment.

Merck gained the rights to V591 via its May acquisition of Themis, an Austrian vaccine maker developing vaccines and therapies based on an innovative measles virus vector platform.

The “measles vector is designed to provide a vehicle to deliver antigens to the immune system capable of triggering a protective memory response” the companies said at the time.

Merck shares are currently trading down 7% year-to-date, but analysts have a bullish Strong Buy consensus on the stock. That breaks down into 7 Buy ratings versus 2 Hold ratings. Meanwhile, the average analyst price target of $96 implies 13% upside potential in the coming year.

Mizuho Securities analyst Mara Goldstein recently reiterated a Buy rating on the stock with a $100 price target (reflecting 18% upside potential), saying that oncology is seeing a rebound from Covid-19.

“The growth in Keytruda continues to drive transformation in the P&L and is supportive of our investment thesis,” Goldstein wrote in a note to investors. The analyst expects Keytruda to drive operating margin expansion and offset negative pressure from loss of exclusivity for other products. (See Merck stock analysis on TipRanks)