What happened
Shares of Moderna (MRNA 0.35%) fell 10% on Tuesday after the biotechnology company said it would seek to raise more than $1.3 billion in cash via a public share offering.
So what
Moderna's stock sale comes soon after it announced positive results from its phase 1 study for its coronavirus vaccine candidate mRNA-1273. Moderna's shares popped 20% on Monday following the news.
Now, it appears that the biotech company is using its stock's gains to sell shares at a higher price. Moderna priced its stock offering at $76 per share, which is about 14% higher than where it closed on Friday.
But the offering price is lower than the price at which Moderna's shares closed on Monday, and its stock price fell in kind.
Shares of Moderna fell on Tuesday after rising sharply on Monday. Image source: Getty Images.
Now what
Moderna intends to use the proceeds from the stock sale to fund the manufacturing of mRNA-1273 for distribution in the U.S. and international markets, pending regulatory approval. The company also said that any funds not needed for the production of mRNA-1273 will be used for the research and development of other drugs in its pipeline, as well as technology investments and general corporate purposes.
