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Moderna shares surge 177%, driving $5.5B mark-to-market losses for shorts
The rally followed trial results showing its personalized cancer vaccine with Merck helped reduce melanoma recurrence, sending shares up 177% on Wednesday.
Moderna Inc. shares jumped 177% on Wednesday after the company said its personalized cancer vaccine developed with partner Merck & Co. helped reduce the recurrence of melanoma in a late-stage trial, according to LiveMint Markets.
The move inflicted about $5.5 billion in paper losses on short sellers, bringing mark-to-market losses to roughly $7.7 billion for the year, data cited from S3 Partners LLC showed.
Short interest as a percentage of Moderna’s float had climbed as high as 20% earlier this year before falling to about 14%, S3 Partners said, with the stock rally forcing additional bearish positions to be reassessed as some shorts had already been unwinding.
LiveMint Markets also noted Moderna had gained 114% this year even before the melanoma results, after investors looked for ways to diversify the company beyond its declining Covid immunization business.