Modern falls into the public market debut
Moderna
on Friday sent one of the most comprehensive opening days for a company that will be public this year when investors sold the risky biotechnology industry through broad market thinking.
The stock trading on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange under the MRNA symbol fell 19% to $ 18.60 well above the original $ 23. This makes it the fifth worst performer on its first day among all US listed companies stock listings this year, according to Dealogic. Its case was the largest among the companies worth more than $ 1[ads1] billion at the time of their listing since April 2017, when
carvan
Co.
fell 26%.
Thursday, Cambridge, Mass., The company's share sales to investors was strong: It sold 26.3 million shares – more than expected – and priced in line with expectations. It increased $ 604.3 million, giving the company a valuation of over $ 7.5 billion.
The launch of a stock market introduction in such a stone market was a gamble for Modern. S & P 500 has fallen about 4% since the company started its road show, where management meets potential investors to discard the IPO. Moderate shares priced Thursday after a late rally removed almost today's deep decline. On Friday the extinction was expelled
. Modern decline was still much sharper than for the wider markets. It lost almost a fifth of the value, while the S & P 500 ended the day by 2.3%.
From the start of roadshow last week, the company and its warranties assured potential investors that they could complete the deal, according to a person familiar with the offer.
One reason for their trust was the many so-called test-water meetings. Modern management had fund managers and analysts in the years leading up to the IPO. Some fund managers said they skipped the company's IPO roadshow because they already understood Modera's business from previous meetings.
Modern debut, one of the largest biotechnological IPOs, is considered one of the last major deals in a year that has brought in more than 200 new US listings and increased more than 58 billion dollars.
There has also been a banner year for biotechnology offers. More than 60 biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies have listed stocks in the US this year, increasing $ 7.1 billion, according to Dealogic. It is the second largest year on record for the industry and the largest since 2014.
Modern, founded in 2010, has 21 drug and vaccine research programs, including 10 that have gone beyond the lab and are being tested by humans.
The company has drawn a lot of fanfare, attracting investors on the promise that its messenger RNA technology will provide new treatments for cancer, heart disease and other diseases. Critics have raised concerns because there is not much public information about the company, and some of the programs remain relatively untested, since many are still in the earlier stages of clinical testing.
Before it began to act, Modera's IPO process had drawn some controversy. The company revealed Tuesday that a signatory had fallen and claimed that the company had made "unauthorized communication" of the offer.
Write to Corrie Driebusch at corrie.driebusch@wsj.com and Kimberly Chin at kimberly.chin@wsj.com
