Moderna skyrockets 39% after its early trial of a coronavirus vaccine produced antibodies in all 45 patients Moderna announced on Monday that all 45 patients in an early trial of its coronavirus vaccine candidate produced antibodies that could help protect them against COVID-19. Shares of the company surged 39%. The company is aiming to have a vaccine ready for emergency use in the fall. Watch Moderna trade live on Markets Insider. Read more on Business Insider. Moderna soared on Monday after announcing that an early trial of its coronavirus vaccine candidate produced positive results. Shares of the pharmaceutical company surged as much as 39% in premarket trading in New York after it said that all 45 volunteers in the trial produced antibodies that may help protect them against COVID-19. The phase-one trial was conducted by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health. Read more: GOLDMAN SACHS: Buy these 14 stocks poised to surge in an economic recovery because of their limited exposure to consumers Moderna is aiming to have a vaccine ready for emergency use in the fall — a timeline that has never been seen for vaccine development. The company hopes to soon start a mid-stage study of the vaccine candidate after the phase-one trial and move to a late-stage trial in July. Moderna is one of a handful of pharmaceutical companies whose shares have skyrocketed during the coronavirus crisis as they race to develop drugs and vaccines to prevent or treat COVID-19. The pharmaceutical company had gained 241% this year through Friday's close.
Dow slides 391 points on reports that Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine study lacked key data https://markets.businessinsider.com...na-vaccine-study-questioned-2020-5-1029217080 I am beginning to believe that Moderna's vaccine is more hype than reality. They went out and raised more money in a stock offering after pumping the results --- while not delivering realistic information.
Since the entire scientific community is blasting Moderna's data -- the Chairman is out trying to defend it. Not going very well if all you do is claim your data is "real" while backing your claim with no facts. Moderna would never release coronavirus vaccine data different from ‘reality,’ chairman says https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/20/mod...ata-different-from-reality-chairman-says.html Moderna would never put out data on its potential vaccine for the coronavirus that was different from “reality,” the biotech firm’s chairman told CNBC. The company put out the extent of data it had available, Moderna Chairman Noubar Afeyan said. Moderna would never put out data on its potential vaccine for the coronavirus that was different from “reality,” the biotech firm’s chairman told CNBC on Wednesday. The comment came a day after health-care publication STAT News reported that some vaccine experts were skeptical of Moderna’s new vaccine data, saying it did not provide critical information to assess its effectiveness. The report sent Moderna’s stock and the broader U.S. market lower. The company put out the extent of data it had available, Moderna Chairman Noubar Afeyan said during an interview on “Power Lunch.” “We take what we do very seriously. We would not, have not put out some of the data to make anything look any different from the reality.” (More at above url)
‘Science by press release’: Sudden rise of vaccine developer Moderna rankles some in scientific establishment https://www.yahoo.com/gma/science-p...r-moderna-193102158--abc-news-topstories.html Moderna Inc., a nearly 10-year-old Massachusetts-based biotech company, is suddenly the talk of the scientific community after they announced this week "positive" indications from their early work on a potential vaccine against the novel coronavirus. Not all of it is complimentary. announce plans to divest more than $12 million of equity holdings amid concerns about potential conflicts of interest." data-reactid="19">The company has been embraced by a Trump administration desperate for good news in the fight against COVID-19. In April, Moderna received $483 million from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), the government agency charged with overseeing the rapid production of a vaccine. And last week, one of its board members, Moncef Slaoui, was appointed the nation's new "vaccine czar," leading him to resign from his position at the company and announce plans to divest more than $12 million of equity holdings amid concerns about potential conflicts of interest. But while the announcement of favorable preliminary results has generated widespread excitement and put the company at the forefront of the race for the most sought-after vaccine in more than a century, some in the typically staid and sober scientific establishment have begun to question the company's decision to publicize preliminary results by press release with no supporting data. "It's a bunch of opinions in a press release with no data," Dr. Peter Jay Hotez, Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine and Professor of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology & Microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine, told ABC News. "You don't do science by press release." This type of behavior can have a "damaging effect," Hotez said, by offering false hope that a vaccine could be ready in weeks or months, when the actual timeline is likely significantly longer. Dr. Andrew Pavia, Chief of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Disease at the University of Utah, echoed these concerns. "Good science requires that we can see the methods and the details of the results," Dr. Pavia told ABC News. "It is a product of the pressures of the pandemic, but it leaves many questions unanswered." In response to questions from ABC News, Moderna's Chief Executive Officer Stéphane Bancel issued a brief statement. "The totality of data from our vaccines platform gives us reason to be optimistic about the prospects for our vaccines to come, including our vaccine against the novel coronavirus," Bancel said. After announcing a vaccine candidate in January, Moderna reported on Monday that its potential vaccine "elicited neutralizing antibodies in all eight" of the participants for which data was available so far from its Phase 1 trial. The vaccine was also "generally safe and well tolerated," the release said, meaning there were no serious side effects observed. Stéphane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer at Moderna, said the company "could not be happier about this interim data," and its stock soared following the news – from $66.69 per share at close on Friday to $86.28 following the announcement – leading at least one expert to question the motives behind the release. "They are not speaking to the American public," Hotez told ABC News. "They are speaking to their investors and their shareholders, and that's the way they do business." The press release may have been lacking in important details, but it's not unusual for companies to publish a brief summary of results, called "topline data," prior to disclosing more complete data and analysis in peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Robert Hopkins Jr. a professor of internal medicine at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and the chair of the Department of Health & Human Services' (HHS) National Vaccine Advisory Committee, said he is "skeptical" of any study that has not been peer reviewed but told ABC News he remains "cautiously optimistic." "If this is true, and it stands up to peer review that's wonderful and I'm hopeful," Dr. Hopkins said, "But we just have to keep our fingers crossed until we can look at it." Much of the excitement surrounding the company stems from its use of messenger RNA, or mRNA. Unlike a traditional vaccine, which injects a safe version of the virus to trigger an immune response, mRNA vaccines instead use snippets of genetic code to instruct the body to produce viral proteins, thereby triggering an immune response. Its proponents say it could produce a vaccine that generates a more potent antibody response. Dr. Drew Weissman, a professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania who developed the technique and licensed it to Moderna, hailed the announcement as "fantastic" before cautioning that the vaccine still has a long way to go. "Nothing is guaranteed," Dr. Weissman told ABC News. "There are still many stages that need to be achieved." Dr. Barton Haynes, the Director of Duke University's Human Vaccine Institute, echoed Weissman's confidence in the new method. He called mRNAa "promising technology" that should be able to produce vaccines that are more cost effective and quicker to develop. "There is lots of literature for using this technology," Dr. Haynes said. "It should be much easier to make vaccines as mRNA." In a recent interview with National Geographic, Fauci said Moderna's mRNA vaccine was "quite impressive."" data-reactid="95">Dr. Anthony Fauci, the longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, also expressed excitement about the technology. In a recent interview with National Geographic, Fauci said Moderna's mRNA vaccine was "quite impressive." "These vaccines are inducing, at least in animal models, really rather substantial immune responses, particularly the mRNA vaccine," Fauci said. "When we look at the immune response that you can induce with a modest dose – one that's feasible to be translated into humans – and the amount of time it takes to get to that level of immunity, it is really quite impressive." But experts still say diversity will be key moving forward in the vaccine space. Should one vaccine fail to deliver, it is critical to have numerous other options also in the pipeline. "I certainly would not want to rely on the Moderna vaccine alone," Dr. Hotez said. "It's critical that we realize this is a company that has never materialized a vaccine before."
Such is the nature of the biotech market. Release PR's with lots of blue sky projections, the stock runs, money gets grabbed, reality strikes and the price tanks. This is a P&D on a larger scale.
Pump and Dump... Moderna unveiled encouraging coronavirus vaccine results. Then top execs dumped nearly $30 million of stock https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/22/investing/moderna-coronavirus-vaccine-stock-sales/index.html
Now up to $ 89 million... Moderna executives have cashed out $89M in shares this year, as stock price has soared on vaccine hopes https://www.statnews.com/2020/05/27/moderna-executives-cashed-out-shares-stock-price-soared/
He experienced a severe reaction to Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine candidate. He’s still a believer https://www.statnews.com/2020/05/27/moderna-executives-cashed-out-shares-stock-price-soared/ Patients in clinical trials are usually faceless. But as the experimental Covid-19 vaccine being developed by Moderna Therapeutics has begun advancing through studies, it has found a much more visible advocate: trial volunteer Ian Haydon, a 29-year-old in Seattle. Haydon has spoken about the vaccine on CNN and CNBC. He even said he’d volunteer to be exposed to the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, if researchers want to test to see if the vaccine was actually effective. But up until now he has left out a key detail: He is, apparently, one of three people in the trial who had a systemic adverse reaction to the vaccine. Twelve hours after receiving his second dose, he developed a fever of more than 103 degrees, sought medical attention, and, after being released from an urgent care facility, fainted in his home. He recovered within a day. (More at above url)
Moderna's coronavirus vaccine announcement set off a frenzy on Wall Street. Now some are calling for an investigation https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/01/business/moderna-vaccine-stock-sales-invs/index.html Moderna set off a frenzy on Wall Street earlier this month when it announced positive, preliminary results from its coronavirus vaccine trial. As the hype grew, the young biotech company and its leading investor wasted no time capitalizing on the briefly surging stock price. Even as critics accused Moderna of overhyping the results released on May 18, a series of transactions were executed before its share price fizzled over the next week. The timing of those deals, former SEC officials said, appear to be "highly problematic" and should be investigated for potential illegal market manipulation. Just hours after revealing the promising vaccine results, Moderna (MRNA) sold 17.6 million shares to the public. That share sale, unveiled after the closing bell on May 18, was priced at $76; Moderna traded at just $48 as recently as May 6. The deal instantly raised $1.3 billion. Two of Moderna's top executives also cashed in on the boom at their company, which had suddenly amassed a $29 billion market value despite the fact it has no marketed products. Moderna's chief financial officer and chief medical officer sold nearly $30 million of shares combined on May 18 and May 19. Those stock sales, reported first by CNN Business, were done through frequently used automated insider-trading plans. These plans, known as 10b5-1 plans, lay out future trades at set prices or on set dates to shield executives from accusations they are profiting from confidential information and Moderna says the plans are in line with its policies. Days later, Moderna's leading shareholder, venture capital firm Flagship Pioneering, sold 1 million shares on May 21 and 22 at an average price of $69.47, according to filings reviewed by CNN Business. The sales raked in $69.5 million for the venture capital firm. Flagship Pioneering was founded by Noubar Afeyan, the co-founder and chairman of Moderna. The VC firm owned nearly 51 million Moderna shares as of the end of March, according to the most recent filings. Those sales by Flagship Pioneering were not done through the automated 10b5-1 plans even though the firm is listed as a Moderna insider. Insiders are not necessarily required to trade through such automated plans, though many opt to do so. By the time the selling was disclosed to the public via securities filings, Moderna's stock price had crashed back to Earth. Moderna closed at $55.54 on Thursday, down 36% from its peak on May 18 when the vaccine results were announced. 'Highly problematic' The timing of the transactions -- coupled with concerns from some medical experts that Moderna overstated the significance of its Phase 1 vaccine trial -- should be investigated by authorities, former SEC officials told CNN Business. "The confluence creates an appearance, which may be inaccurate, that people were in a rush to take advantage of an early positive trial in what is often a long and tortured development of a new drug," Harvey Pitt, the former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, said in an interview. Pitt, who led the SEC from 2001 to 2003, called the timing of the share sales by Moderna and its leading shareholder "highly problematic." He suggested authorities issue subpoenas for emails, memos and other documents that can shed light on the share sales. (More at above url)