NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / October 5, 2024 / Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Moderna, Inc. ("Moderna" or the "Company") (NASDAQ:MRNA) and certain officers. The class action, filed in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, and docketed under 24-cv- 12058, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities other than Defendants that purchased or otherwise acquired Moderna securities between January 18, 2023 and June 25, 2024, both dates inclusive (the "Class Period"), seeking to recover damages caused by Defendants' violations of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act") and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, against the Company and certain of its top officials.
If you are a shareholder who purchased or otherwise acquired Moderna securities during the Class Period, you have until October 8, 2024 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Danielle Peyton at [email protected] or 646-581-9980 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 7980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.
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Moderna is a biotechnology company that discovers, develops, and commercializes messenger RNA ("mRNA") therapeutics and vaccines for the treatment of infectious diseases, immuno-oncology, rare diseases, autoimmune, and cardiovascular diseases in the United States, Europe, and internationally. The Company's products include, inter alia, mRESVIA (mRNA-1345), an mRNA respiratory syncytial virus ("RSV") vaccine, intended to protect adults aged 60 years and older from lower respiratory tract disease caused by RSV infection.
In July 2023, Moderna initiated a rolling submission of a Biologics License Application ("BLA") to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("FDA")-or the process by which a pharmaceutical company may submit completed sections of a BLA for review by the FDA before all sections become available-for real-time review of mRNA-1345 backed by late-stage data, which indicated a vaccine efficacy rate of 83.7% as defined by two or more RSV symptoms related to the lower respiratory tract.
The Compliant alleges that, throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company's business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) mRNA-1345 was less effective than Defendants had led investors to believe; (ii) accordingly, mRNA-1345's clinical and/or commercial prospects were overstated; and (iii) as a result, the Company's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
On May 31, 2024, Moderna issued a press release "announc[ing] that the [FDA] has approved mRESVIA (mRNA-1345) . . . to protect adults aged 60 years and older from lower respiratory tract disease caused by RSV infection." However, the Company's press release indicated a vaccine efficacy of only 78.7%, significantly lower than the 83.7% vaccine efficacy that Moderna had previously identified in its mRNA-1345 BLA rolling submission to the FDA. Following this announcement, analysts and market observers were quick to note mRNA-1345's lower-than-expected efficacy rate.
On this news, Moderna's stock price fell $8.94 per share, or 5.9%, to close at $142.55 per share on May 31, 2024.
Then, on June 26, 2024, in a presentation before the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's ("CDC") Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, Moderna disclosed that after 18 months, mRNA-1345 proved only 49.9% to 50.3% effective against multiple symptoms of lower respiratory tract disease-a significantly lower efficacy rate than vaccines produced by Moderna's competitors.
Following this presentation, market analysts once again took notice of mRNA-1345's reduced efficacy rate. For example, in an article published the same day, Reuters stated, in relevant part, that "Moderna [. . .] opens new tab respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) shot mRESVIA showed 50% efficacy in preventing RSV after 18 months," and that, by comparison, the RSV vaccines of Moderna's competitors GSK and Pfizer were "78% effective in preventing severe RSV over a second year" and "78% effective through a second RSV season," respectively. Also on June 26, 2024, Bloomberg published an article entitled "Moderna RSV Vaccine Efficacy Sinks Over Time, CDC Documents Show," which stated, in relevant part, that "[t]he results could further raise doubts over the prospects for its shot, which is already third to the market. Moderna shares fell as much as 11%, their biggest intraday decline since November."
On this news, Moderna's stock price fell $15.15 per share, or 11.01%, to close at $122.45 per share on June 26, 2024.
As a result of Defendants' wrongful acts and omissions, and the precipitous decline in the market value of the Company's securities, Plaintiff and other Class members have suffered significant losses and damages.
Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered billions of dollars in damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com.
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SOURCE: Pomerantz LLP