Photo: Mufid Majnun from Pixabay.

Moderna Inc MRNA traded higher Thursday after the company announced it's developing a single-dose vaccine that combines a booster against COVID-19 and a booster against flu during its R&D Day.

Moderna has increased its pipeline of vaccines and therapeutics from 23 to 34 over the last year, Short Hills Capital's Steve Weiss said Thursday on CNBC.

Weiss said he saw people asking how Moderna could have a market cap nearly the size of pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co Inc MRK. Moderna generates revenue of $3.5 million per employee, while Merck's revenue per employee is $290,000, Weiss said.

"[Moderna is a] much more efficient allocator of capital than any pharma or biotech company. The future is really just starting here. You can't compare Moderna to Merck any more than you can compare Amazon to Macy's or Apple to Compaq Computer," he said.

Moderna is a technology platform with tremendous innovation, Weiss said, adding that the company's technology allows it to be quicker to market than its competition.

"Moderna is still the cheapest stock I own," he said.

MRNA Price Action: Moderna has traded as high as $497.49 and as low as $54.21 over a 52-week period.

The stock closed up 7.8% at $455.92.