miércoles, 9 de enero de 2019

In a slump, Moderna makes the case for its big-money valuation

In a slump, Moderna makes the case for its big-money valuation

Readout @ JPM

Damian Garde



Moderna goes to bat for that multibillion-dollar valuation


Moderna Therapeutics faced the public for the first time since its record-breaking IPO, laying out the case for a revolutionary future with a plaintive subtext: Even at $5 billion, the company is undervalued.

Moderna’s share price is down nearly 30 percent since its December debut, as a combination of market malaise and investor skepticism dragged the former unicorn’s market cap below its last private valuation.

With that backdrop, CEO Stéphane Bancel had his work cut out for him, speaking before a standing-room crowd of more than 300 investors and analysts Tuesday. Moderna, he argued, is at an inflection point, close to demonstrating how its core technology can lead to scores of products that upend the drug industry.

But investors who spoke to STAT pointed to two sticking points: Moderna has yet to rule out the lingering risks tied to using messenger RNA, or mRNA, to create therapeutic proteins inside patients’ bodies. And, even at its depressed valuation, the company is simply too expensive.

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