We are investigating Moderna, Inc. (MRNA) (“Moderna” or the “Company”) for potential violations of the federal securities laws.
On May 18, 2020, Moderna announced Phase 1 trial results for a candidate vaccine for COVID-19 under development by the Company, indicating that the candidate appeared to generate an immune response similar to the response seen in individuals who have been infected by the virus and recovered. Specifically, Moderna reported that eight patients who received two doses of the vaccine at the lowest and middle doses tested — 25 and 100 micrograms — developed neutralizing antibodies to the virus at levels similar to people who had recovered from infection. In the days following Moderna’s announcement, the Company’s announcement was the subject of skeptical commentary from multiple sources. For example, on May 19, 2020, STAT published an article entitled “Vaccine experts say Moderna didn’t produce data critical to assessing Covid-19 vaccine,” which noted, in part, that “[w]hile Moderna blitzed the media, it revealed very little information — and most of what it did disclose were words, not data.” Over the three trading sessions following Moderna’s May 18, 2020 announcement, the Company’s stock price fell $12.95 per share, or 16.19%, to close at $67.05 per share on May 21, 2020.