Moderna is a niche biotech company that has been generating a lot of attention lately. The company has developed a groundbreaking new gene therapy that could be good news for all of us who are susceptible to hereditary blindness. In this article, you will learn about Who Owns Moderna, the risks of investing in the company, and whether you should buy stock in moderna.
Who owns Moderna?
Moderna Therapeutics is a biotech company that is developing a gene therapy for macular degeneration (one of the leading causes of blindness in the elderly) and retinal degeneration. At the end of 2016, Moderna was solely owned by its CEO and founder, Kevin Cooney. Cooney also owns a venture capital fund called Moderna Ventures. Cooney is an entrepreneur with an impressive track record. He is the CEO of two other biotechs, namely Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Ocera Therapeutics. Cooney served as CEO of both Vertex and Ocera until the end of 2016.
The History of Moderna
In 2016, Cooney founded Moderna as a biotech company dedicated to the development of gene therapies for diseases that afflict people of advanced age. Cooney’s earlier biotech companies had developed treatments for macular degeneration and retinal disease, respectively. Cooney saw a market for gene therapy for age-related eye diseases thanks to the high incidence of these conditions among the elderly.
Is Moderna Profitable?
Cooney claims that the gene therapy that Moderna has developed would have a potential market size of $2 billion to $3 billion. Cooney bases this amount on the fact that many people over the age of 50 suffer from retinal degeneration. People with this condition are often denied a high school education due to the damage to their eyes. Retinal degeneration affects an estimated 2.9 million people in the US each year and costs the economy $5.1 billion due to lost productivity. Cooney believes that his gene therapy could be a remedy for this problem. More specifically, the therapy could be used to treat the retinal degeneration that leads to blindness in people over the age of 50.
Risks of Investing in Moderna
The majority of analysts that cover Moderna assume that the company will be profitable, but there is a chance that it will not be profitable. Cooney is an experienced entrepreneur who has turned losing biotech companies into profitable ones. However, the gene therapy that Moderna is developing may not be profitable. Investors who buy into Moderna’s business model assume that the gene therapy will be profitable, but the results of clinical trials are not in yet. The biotech industry is notoriously difficult to predict, and Moderna is no exception.
Should You Buy Moderna Stock?
Macular degeneration and retinal degeneration are painful and debilitating diseases that are very difficult to treat. Moderna is developing a gene therapy that could offer relief to many people suffering from these conditions. Moderna’s gene therapy is expected to be available in 2020. Therefore, you should only buy Moderna stock if you are strongly bullish on the biotech’s prospects. Before you buy Moderna stock, you should know that Biotech stocks are notoriously difficult to predict. Moderna is no exception to this rule. Biotech stocks are notoriously difficult to predict, and Moderna is no exception to this rule. As mentioned above, Moderna is developing a gene therapy that has a high chance of not being profitable. Furthermore, the process of developing and testing a drug typically takes 10 to 15 years, and Moderna’s drug is still in development. Moreover, the biotech’s stock price is volatile, and it has been trending downward lately.