By
Godfrey Benjamin
October 4th, 2023
Though now Moderna (MRNA) stock is significantly below its ATH, Oppenheimer analyst predicts an 80% increase from the current level.
Moderna Inc (NASDAQ: MRNA) stock price is set to climb. Oppenheimer analyst Hartag Singh has indicated that there is more to come for the biomedical company. Yesterday, Moderna (MRNA) stock price was $60.59 which indicates a 1.17% increase. Now in the pre-market, the stock is 60.50 (-0.066%).
After attending Moderna virtual science day, Hartag Singh wanted to see what was going on under the hood in the company. It appears that Singh was impressed.
Singh said:
“Building on the last two Science Days, Moderna has kept a focus on strengthening its Research Platform science, with (1) increasing mRNA and encoded protein half-lives and stabilizing mRNA while avoiding double-stranded RNA impurities, (2) making a novel squaramide-based ionizable lipid (new LNP) to improve protein expression, and (3) designing a preclinical HIV vaccine program to MRNA’s platform with its rapid iterative design/testing abilities,”
Moderna (MRNA) Stock Price May Increase Significantly
The presentation also showed more details about protein half-lives. Singh indicated that response time for the protein worked better when mRNA half-lives were improved. This is done by “maximizing secondary structure and codon optimality with a terminal idT added to prevent deadenylation that causes mRNA decay”.
Singh also noted that the ability to decode half-lives will lead to new products. Ones with a better shelf-life. Moderna’s (MRNA) program with the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) on HIV was referred to.
Singh remained bullish about Moderna’s prospects. He kept an “outperform” rating on Moderna. His price target was $108. This represents an 80% increase.
Moderna Has a New CFO
This comes as Moderna Chief Financial Officer (CFO) has left the company. Sources say that Lorence Kim indicated his desire to depart in May.
His departure has been mired with controversial stock sales. Though Kim didn’t break any rules, many have wondered if the automated stock sales and the announcement of promising trials were timed.
David Meline is taking over from Lorence. Meline’s arrival comes at a time when Moderna has as much as nine vaccines in its stable. This shows that the bio-medical company is set to blow bigger than usual.
Vaccine Map
Moderna growth has been exponential. Moderna (MRNA) stock price has grown by about 209% in this year alone. As a company on the frontline of solving the COVID-19 problem, many have hailed its approach.
Moderna is part of a broader initiative to getting vaccines for the coronavirus. A recent map shows clusters of countries where vaccines are currently being developed. The United States has a whopping 42 vaccines in development. It is followed by China who has 19. Then Canada in third place with 12. The United Kingdom is in fourth place with 11 while Russia is in fifth place with 10.
As concerted efforts continue to defeat COVID-19 the vaccine race will come with a lot of solutions. Things will return to normal soon. But for now, all we can do is hope.