‘There is a chance that we are now at the beginning of the end of the pandemic’ – HeraldScotland

BAILLIE Gifford US Growth Trust hailed the achievements of biotechnology company Moderna and entrepreneur Elon Musks SpaceX venture as it revealed it had outperformed dramatically in its first half.

And it now sees a chance that we are now at the beginning of the end of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The 810 million investment trust posted a return on net asset value of 53.8 per cent for the six months to November 30. The S&P 500 index recorded a return of 11.1% in sterling terms.

Baillie Gifford US Growth noted Moderna, which it has held since 2018, is one of the biotechnology companies which has been at the forefront of coronavirus vaccine development.

Moderna is among several players to have achieved vaccine success.

The trust said: After a long and bleak year, we have entered 2021 with light at the end of the tunnel. Countries around the world are starting to vaccinate their populations. The number of people whose immune systems are primed to fight coronavirus is growing each day. We must not get complacent, and there is still a long road ahead, but there is a chance that we are now at the beginning of the end of the pandemic. We have science to thank for this. Vaccine development has traditionally taken years.

It added: As well as capital and will, modern science has been an important catalyst for this breakthrough...The coronavirus vaccine is Modernas first commercial product. Its approval has important read-across for Modernas drug development platform more broadly.

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Looking at the overall picture, the trust said the pace of innovation is speeding up and spreading out, and that this ought to be a fruitful environment for growth investors.

Declaring SpaceX had been innovating at a breathtaking pace, it added: 2020 was the year that America sent astronauts to the space station again. SpaceXs crewed mission was a first for a private company. Starlink, SpaceXs satellite-based high-speed broadband service, is up and running in beta, with over 900 satellites orbiting the earth delivering internet to users. And in Texas, SpaceX has been rapidly developing its Starship rocket, the vehicle it hopes will take people back to the Moon and then on to Mars.

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Between its launch on March 23, 2018 and November 30, 2020, the trusts return on net asset value was 185.7%. This compares with a return of 56.2% for the S&P 500 index.

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'There is a chance that we are now at the beginning of the end of the pandemic' - HeraldScotland