Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA), a clinical-stage biotechnology company, has announced its global public health strategy that comprises four key initiatives to advance mRNA vaccines for the prevention of infectious diseases.
Initiatives
Firstly, the company plans to develop vaccines to target 15 pathogens, including HIV, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria, neglected tropical diseases and others, which have been identified as the biggest public health risk by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) into clinical studies by 2025.
Further, Moderna is also introducing a new program, mRNA Access, to speed up research regarding vaccine development. Notably, the program will give researchers at partnering institutions access to Moderna’s preclinical manufacturing capabilities and research and development expertise.
Next, it seeks to expand the patent pledge to never enforce COVID-19 patents in the Gavi COVAX AMC for 92 low- and middle-income countries.
Lastly, the company announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of the Republic of Kenya to establish its mRNA manufacturing facility in Kenya.
CEO’s Comment
Stéphane Bancel, the CEO of Moderna, said, “Since our beginning, we have focused on developing a global health vaccine program and today, we are renewing that focus by expanding our work to develop vaccines against priority pathogens that threaten global health and by launching our new mRNA Access program to create a community of global scientists to access our mRNA vaccine technology from anywhere in the world.”
“We are committed to bringing the full force of our mRNA vaccine platform to combat infectious diseases of public health concern and we look forward working with global partners to be part of the solution to prevent future pandemics and help millions of people around the world,” she added.
Stock Rating
Recently, Deutsche Bank analyst Emmanuel Papadakis maintained a Hold rating on the stock and lowered the price target to $155 from $175. The new price target implies 22.6% from current levels.
The analyst is of the opinion that good fundamental valuation provides support at current share levels from Moderna’s balance sheet, expected COVID/flu seasonal run rate and upside optionality from multiple additional efforts.
Based on 5 Buys, 9 Holds and 1 Sell rating, the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus rating. The average Moderna price target of $258.40 implies 104.3% upside potential from current levels. Shares have gained 2.4% over the past year.
Hedge Fund Trading Activity
TipRanks’ Hedge Fund Trading Activity tool shows that confidence in Moderna is currently Very Negative, as the cumulative change in holdings across all 14 hedge funds that were active in the last quarter was a decrease of 5.3 million shares.
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