There are a number of small, promising biotech stocks working on potential treatments, whether they be vaccines or otherwise, for the rapidly spreading coronavirus. As countries like Iran, South Korea, and Italy all continue to see a dramatic explosion in outbreaks, shares of most of these biotech stocks have seen significant gains.
However, one well known short seller has gone on to attack one such company. Citron Research, a famous short-seller, targeted Inovio Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:INO) on Tuesday, claiming that its claims regarding its coronavirus vaccine should be investigated.
Citron Research has a lengthy history of going after companies it thinks are overpriced or have a major flaw in their valuations. While some investors don’t look at Citron with great admiration, a perception held by many against short sellers, the research firm does hold great weight in the financial markets. Shares of almost every company they’ve gone up against have fallen, at least in the short-term, in response to their allegations.
That’s exactly what happened with Inovio, whose shares have been surging over the past few weeks. Citron went on to say that the stock should trade at around $2 per share, a far cry from the $9.8 it was trading at earlier this month. One claim that Citron especially has a problem with from Inovio is the statement that the biotech company developed a vaccine candidate in just three hours. Inovio has also promised to deliver 1 million vaccine doses for further studies and emergency use by the end of 2020, another claim that skeptics find hard to believe.
“SEC should immediately HALT this stock and investigate the ludicrous and dangerous claim that they designed a vaccine in 3 hours. This has been a serial stock promotion for years. This will trade back to $2. Investors have been warned,” read the tweet from Citron. “We’re not going to lend credibility to this report or this outlet with a response,” responded a spokesperson from Inovio.
So far in 2020, shares of Inovio had shot up as much as 480% before today. While Monday saw the stock jump an extra 37%, making it one of the more volatile companies in the market right now, Inovio plummeted as much as 42% on Tuesday in light of Citron’s announcement. Other noteworthy biotech companies working on a treating include Moderna, which also has an experimental coronavirus vaccine in the works, with initial estimates projecting that it could be ready sometime 2021.
So far, the total number of global coronavirus cases has just reached 119,000, with the total death count reaching 4,280. While China still leads in terms of total cases, the number of new cases in the country has slowed down drastically. Instead, Italy, Iran, and Korea have all seen there case numbers grow to the several thousand mark or more.
Inovio Pharmaceutical Company Profile
Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc is a United States based biotechnology company that develops active DNA-based immunotherapies and vaccines to treat and prevent cancers and infectious diseases. The company is engaged in gene therapy, where its immunotherapy platform consists of DNA-based immunotherapy and electroporation delivery technologies. – Warrior Trading News
