Biotech company Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA), which is testing one of the leading coronavirus vaccine candidates, priced an offering of 17.6 million new shares at $76 each, the company said late Monday.
The company said it expects the offering to close around Thursday, with gross proceeds totaling around $1.34 billion. Moderna is also giving the underwriters a 30-day option to buy up to an additional 2.64 million shares in common stock. Morgan Stanley is the running the deal.
At that level, this will be one of the largest secondary offerings for a biotech company in recent memory -- perhaps ever. There are some months when the entire industry doesn't raise $1.4 billion combined.
Typically, companies needing to rise that much capital would go to the debt market and sell bonds or convertible notes, so they didn't have to dilute shareholders.
The announcement comes after Moderna reported positive data on its early-stage human trial for a COVID-19 vaccine earlier Monday. The closely watched vaccine trial produced COVID-19 antibodies in all 45 participants, sending the company’s stock surging nearly 20% to close at $80 a share.
In a previous statement, Moderna said it expects to primarily use proceeds from the offering to fund the manufacturing and distribution of its vaccine candidate, mRNA-1273 once it’s approved by federal regulators.
If there are any remaining proceeds, the company hopes "to fund clinical development and drug discovery in existing and new therapeutic areas; to fund further development of its mRNA technology platform and the creation of new modalities; or to fund working capital and other general corporate purposes."
MRNA shares opened Tuesday down $2.55, or 3.2%, to $77.45
