Moderna’s stocks soar after questions have been raised about the limited amount of data shared on its COVID-19 vaccine
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Investors in Moderna Inc.
MRNA
The preclinical biotechnology company is developing one of the first-line COVID-19 vaccine candidates in the United States In the United States, you may face a volatile journey through the clinical trial process.
Moderna’s shares closed at a record low of $ 80.00 on Monday after the company released some of the positive interim clinical data from the first phase of its COVID-19 vaccine trial. That night, he announced that he would sell $ 1.34 billion in shares to help finance the manufacturing costs associated with the experimental COVID-19 vaccine. The stock sank on Tuesday, closing at $ 71.67, likely to some extent due to Statistical news article This challenged the lack of clinical clarity in the data provided to investors.
On Wednesday, the company’s shares rose 3.8%. To date, 270.2% have soared, although the company has not approved any products. In 2019, he had $ 60 million in revenue from collaborations and grants.
“Moderna shares fell in recent operations after Monday’s skyrocketing to a new historic high, as some experts questioned the importance of the company’s success in boosting the vaccine trial the main clues yesterday, “he wrote Tuesday. Gorilla Trades strategist Ken Berman. “The fact that the company announced a stock offer yesterday also weighed on Moderna’s stocks, but MRNA is still trading 300% more a year, despite today’s decline.”
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On Monday, in a release of clinical trial data, Moderna shared that eight of 45 participants in their study of the COVID-19 vaccine have developed neutralizing antibodies, a decision that Helen Branswell of Stat described as “reason for caution” “. He did not share information on the immune response to the experimental vaccine in the remaining 37 participants.
Moderna, however, said the full data from the trial will be published by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), its sponsor for the study. The company had also revealed that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had given the green light to the company to proceed to the second phase of the clinical trial of its mRNA vaccine candidate, which will start earlier. from the end of June.
Despite the criticism cited in the Stat News article, Wall Street analysts widely view the clinical trial data published by Moderna, although limited, as positive.
“Although samples are not yet available to the remaining participants and we lack details on the exact levels of binding antibodies, we believe these data show early signs of efficacy,” wrote Goldman analysts. Sachs in a note to investors on Monday.
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Medical experts and analysts have also raised questions about the lack of comprehensive data from Gilead Sciences Inc.
BROWN,
Advanced study for remdesivir, which was also carried out with NIAID.) So far, only the main results of this trial have been publicly disclosed, although this is sufficient to inform authorization for use of the drug. FDA emergency earlier this year. this month, at least according to the letter from the FDA announcing the EUA.
“We need to see all of this data, the publication,” said May 1, Dr. Eric Topol, cardiologist and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute. “But I think the drug is effective based on what we have now, you know, it’s just not that powerful.”
Beyond the lingering questions about access to the full set of phase 1 clinical trial data for the experimental vaccine, Moderna’s eye-catching offer on Monday evening aims to sell about $ 1.3 billion. also in stock may have contributed to the dive Tuesday.
The company revealed on Tuesday evening that CEO Stéphane Bancel and CFO Lorence Kim recently sold shares, and the rise in the share price on Monday after the announcement of the first data on its candidate for The vaccine could add 4 million dollars in Kim’s coffers.
See also: AstraZeneca made a bet on Moderna in 2013. That’s what it’s worth now
On Friday, Bancel sold 11,046 shares at a weighted average price of $ 65.56 for around $ 724,200, as part of a predetermined trading plan adopted on December 28, 2018, according to a Presentation form 4 with the Securities and Exchange Commission. He also had 1,577 shares available as part of a “good faith” gift.
In addition, on Friday, Kim sold 20,000 shares at a weighted average price of $ 65.53 for about $ 1.31 million, as part of a default trading plan. On Monday, he exercised options to buy 241,000 shares at a weighted average price of $ 12.45 for approximately $ 3.00 million, also under a predetermined plan. At the same time, Kim made sales of 241,000 shares, at a weighted average price of $ 82.12 for around $ 19.79 million. This means that Kim made about $ 16.79 million from the simultaneous buying and selling of stocks.
If Kim had operated Monday through Friday before recovering from the coronavirus vaccine, he could have earned $ 12.79 million, or about $ 4 million less.
Morgan Stanley analysts set a target price of $ 90.00 for Moderna on Wednesday, noting that they expect the company to sell about 1.5 billion doses during the pandemic and about 150 million doses each year thereafter. “We are positive in the early data,” they wrote.
Moderna’s market capitalization is approximately $ 27.4 billion, up from $ 6.4 billion on January 2.
The S&P 500
SPX
it has so far fallen 9.3% this year.