Investors everywhere drew hope from the announcement of a potential vaccine – but they shouldn’t count their chickens before they’ve hatched. Biotech company Moderna has reported promising results in clinical trials of its mRNA-1273 vaccine against COVID-19, with subjects demonstrating similar levels of antibodies against the virus as those who have recovered from it. “When combined with the success in preventing viral replication in the lungs of a pre-clinical challenge model at a dose that elicited similar levels of neutralizing antibodies, these data substantiate our belief that mRNA-1273 has the potential to prevent COVID-19 disease and advance our ability to select a dose for pivotal trials,” said Dr Tal Zaks, chief medical officer at Moderna.

One of the leading providers of investment research has broadened its push into ESG analysis with a new acquisition. Morningstar has reached an agreement to acquire Sustainalytics. It currently owns a 40 per cent stake in the business, acquired in 2017, and will purchase the remaining 60 per cent upon closing the transaction. “Modern investors in public and private markets are demanding ESG data, research, ratings, and solutions in order to make informed, meaningful investing decisions,” said Morningstar CEO Kunal Kapoor.

“From climate change to supply-chain practices, the nature of the investment process is evolving and shining a spotlight on demand for stakeholder capitalism. Whether assessing the durability of a company’s economic moat or the stability of its credit rating, this is the future of long-term investing.” Morningstar and Sustainalytics have previously worked together on a sustainability rating for funds, a global sustainability index family, and a large span of sustainable portfolio analytics that includes carbon metrics and “controversial product involvement data”.