COVID Vaccine Execs Hyped Vague Data to Cash in $90M in Stock, Watchdog Says
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COVID vaccine execs hyped vague data to cash in $90M in stock, watchdog says:
Moderna is considered a front-runner in the race for a vaccine against the pandemic virus, SARS-CoV-2. The company is testing a vaccine involving mRNA, an unproven vaccine platform that is not used for any existing vaccines. However, Moderna became prominent in the pandemic after partnering with the National Institutes of Health to design and test its vaccine. It was the very first vaccine to go into clinical trials, which began March 16.
On May 18, the company sent out a press release saying that eight trial participants had developed neutralizing antibodies at levels that mimicked those seen in people who recover from a SARS-CoV-2 infection. Moderna painted the results as positive," but experts were quick to note that the press release didn't contain any data and that the scant information provided is uninterpretable in terms of assessing the efficacy of the vaccine. Some also questioned why Moderna chose to release such incomplete data from a very small number of participants instead of waiting to publish a larger dataset in a peer-reviewed scientific journal-which is standard practice.
Still, the press release set off a frenzy of "encouraging" coverage, and Moderna's stock surged 30 percent, raising it to an all-time high of $87 a share. Amid the surge, Moderna's CEO, several executives, and funds controlled by the chairman of the board sold about $90 million worth of stock, according to CBS Moneywatch.
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