Citron Research warned investors that Ino stock would fall back to $2 and called for the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate Inovio and suspend trading of its stock.
Pharma company Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: INO) had pretty volatile trading session yesterday. It started by growing 10.7% but in just a few minutes, the biotech quickly started to fall. INO stock finished its trading session with 42.01% in the red and with a price of $5.7.
But, let’s start from the beginning. As COVID-19 is raging throughout the whole globe, pharmaceutical companies are racing in making the vaccine that will cure the humankind of the coronavirus. If we are watching the situation of Inovio stock starting from last Friday – the price grew by tremendous 327%. The company announced it had developed a vaccine called INO-4800 within just three hours of the publication of the virus’ genetic sequence.
Trevor Smith, the director of research and development at Inovio then said:
“We have an algorithm which we designed, and we put the DNA sequence into our algorithm and came up with the vaccine in that short amount of time.”
INO Stock Fell as SEC Comes to Investigate Inovio
However, short-seller Citron Research doesn’t think of it as a smart idea. Not just that, it calls these claims about developing a vaccine in a matter of hours “ludicrous” and “dangerous.” The firm also says Inovio’s shares will fall back to the $2 range once the hype subsides.
As we have already reported, on March 9, Citron Research called into question the company’s claims, writing:
“The 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 $2.00. Investors have been warned.”
On the same day, Inovio (INO) stock price plummeted over 30%. Today, the shares are down another 28% in intraday trading.
Mark Delaney, the Block & Leviton attorney leading the investigation noted:
“We will be investigating whether Inovio and its executives committed securities fraud when discussing its purported coronavirus vaccine, and encourage affected investors to contact us to learn more about their rights.”
The truth is, Inovio’s story about having already ready vaccine is not really legit. They may have the vaccine in approximately three years when all the test are done. Until then, if everything is as the company claims, it might have some grant money but it still isn’t the reason enough to hurry up and invest all your money in it.
We Have More High Hopes
Be it as it may, Inovio (thank God) isn’t our only hope.
Texas-based genetic engineering company Greffex said this week its scientist created a vaccine for coronavirus prevention. According to the company’s chief executive officer John Price, the vaccine should be approved and publicly available by the end of this year.
Earlier today, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, who has been appointed by President Trump to lead a coronavirus task force, confirmed there has been “rapid work on a vaccine that should go into clinical trials very soon.”
Last week, Director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Dr. Anthony Fauci stated that NIAID authorized entrance of the vaccine against the COVID-19 in phase one.
Furthermore, China’s Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui said earlier that an effective vaccine for the coronavirus has been created in China, but that it still needs further testing.
“China has developed a vaccine that shows immunity. But these are preliminary results and time is needed for further tests and fine-tuning the vaccine,” emphasized Hanhui.
This statement comes after claims made by World Health Organization’s Director-General Tedros Adhanom that it will take between 12 and 18 months before a vaccine is ready. Meanwhile, UK scientists also began COVID-19 vaccine tests on animals.
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