A group of shareholders is suing Moderna alleging the company knowingly inflated claims about the efficacy of its RSV vaccine for older adults. When the drugmaker later lowered expectations for the vaccine’s efficacy the stock price dropped precipitously.
A class-action lawsuit accuses Moderna of making “materially false and misleading statements” about the efficacy of its respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) shot, leading to significant damages for investors.
The lawsuit, filed Aug. 9 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, covers investors who owned or purchased Moderna stock between Jan. 18, 2023 — the day that Moderna announced that mRNA-1345, its candidate RSV vaccine, met primary efficacy endpoints in Phase 3 clinical trials — and June 25, 2024.
According to the lawsuit, Moderna misled investors by failing to disclose that “mRNA-1345 was less effective than Defendants had led investors to believe” and that “mRNA-1345’s clinical and/or commercial prospects were overstated.”
“As a result, the Company’s public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit names Moderna and its key executives, including its CEO Stéphane Bancel, Chief Financial Officer James M. Mock and President Stephen Hoge, as defendants.
“Defendants acted with reckless disregard for the truth in that they failed or refused to ascertain and disclose such facts as would reveal the materially false and misleading nature of the statements made, although such facts were readily available to Defendants,” the lawsuit states.
Brian Hooker, Ph.D., chief scientific officer for Children’s Health Defense (CHD), told The Defender he is not surprised by allegations of fraud concerning Moderna.
“It is unfortunate that Moderna lied about the efficacy of the vaccine and misled investors,” Hooker said. But Hooker said the “bigger tragedy here is the lack of safety testing for modified mRNA products such as their RSV shot.”
Hellbound and Down 