Topic: How To Invest

Spinoffs, Takeovers and Special Situations Hotline – Friday, November 23, 2018

Article Excerpt

MODERNA INC. plans to launch an initial public offering (IPO) on the Nasdaq exchange under the symbol MRNA. It aims to raise $500 million. Since its launch in 2010, the company has raised more than $2.6 billion in funding. The last round of those funding efforts suggests the company could have a valuation of just over $7 billion. Based in Boston, Moderna focuses on the development of RNA therapeutics aimed at cancer, heart disease, infections and more. Its drugs make use of a technology called RNA interference (RNAi), which has rapidly advanced over the past few years and generated a great deal of interest from biotech investors. RNAi is a gene-silencing technology that turns on and off the genes that regulate proteins in human cells. Moderna believes it has taken RNA therapeutics one step further with its mRNA, or “modified messenger RNA.” This technique uses a patient’s own body to create medicines within their cells and at the precise location they need to be delivered. While previous…