• Luckin Coffee sacks CEO, COO for alleged fraud

    Luckin Coffee sacks CEO, COO for alleged fraudLuckin, a major rival to Starbucks in China, revealed in April that much of its 2019 sales of about 2.2 billion yuan ($310.77 million) were fabricated by its COO and other employees, who had been suspended while the company carried out its investigation. Jenny Zhiya Qian and Jian Liu, who were CEO and COO respectively, will also exit the company’s board. Meanwhile, Luckin’s chairman, Charles Zhengyao Lu, and Qian handed over shares in the coffee chain to lenders after a company controlled by Lu’s family defaulted on a $518 million margin loan.

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  • Moderna’s Covid-19 Vaccine Candidate Gets FDA Fast Track Status

    Moderna’s Covid-19 Vaccine Candidate Gets FDA Fast Track StatusModerna Inc. (MRNA) announced on Tuesday that its experimental coronavirus vaccine has been granted fast track status by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).The fast track status designation is awarded to speed up the regulatory review of its novel coronavirus vaccine candidate (mRNA-1273).Last week, the FDA completed its review of Moderna’s Investigational New Drug (IND) application for mRNA-1273 allowing it to proceed to a Phase 2 study, which is expected to begin shortly. The clinical stage biotech company said it is finalizing the protocol for a Phase 3 study, expected to begin in early summer of 2020.“Fast Track designation underscores the urgent need for a vaccine against the novel coronavirus,” said Tal Zaks, Chief Medical Officer at Moderna. “As we await the full set of clinical data from the NIAID-led Phase 1 study, we are actively preparing for our Phase 2 and Phase 3 clinical studies to continue learning about the potential of mRNA-1273 to protect against SARS-CoV-2.”By utilizing messenger RNA (mRNA) science, Moderna hopes to create a new class of transformative medicines for patients. mRNA medicines are designed to direct the body’s cells to produce intracellular, membrane or secreted proteins that can have a therapeutic or preventive benefit and have the potential to address a broad spectrum of diseases.Moderna shares dropped 2.7% to $65.04 in morning U.S. trading after the stock more than tripled this year.Five-star analyst Yasmeen Rahimi at Roth Capital raised Moderna’s price target to $68 from $41, while maintaining a Buy rating on the shares, saying that with the near-term start of a Phase 2 study for its COVID-19 vaccine, the company remains the front-runner in getting a vaccine to pivotal trials with potential approval by 2021.Although analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on Moderna stock based on 9 Buys and 2 Holds, its recent rally means that the $54.30 average price target now indicates 17% downside potential from current levels. (See Moderna stock analysis on TipRanks).Related News: Novavax Spikes 31% on $384 Million Cash Injection for Vaccine Production CymaBay Doubles After-Hours On Positive NASH Trial Update Genfit Craters 49% On Failed NASH Trial; Top Analyst ‘Not Surprised’ More recent articles from Smarter Analyst: * Hyatt Hotels Lays Off 1,300 Workers as Virus Pandemic Freezes Travel Demand * 2 Cruise Line Stocks to Bet on After the Coronavirus Crisis (And 1 to Avoid) * Peloton Shares Increase on 1 Million Fitness Subscriber Milestone * Logitech Leaps Almost 6% As Stay-At-Home Orders Boost Quarterly Sales

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  • CymaBay Doubles After-Hours On Positive NASH Trial Update

    CymaBay Doubles After-Hours On Positive NASH Trial UpdateShares in CymaBay Therapeutics (CBAY) exploded over 105% in after-hours trading Monday after the company revealed a positive update for its seladelpar liver disease drug, which has been on clinical hold since November.Sujal Shah, President and CEO of CymaBay, stated, “Last week a panel of some of the most experienced and distinguished liver pathologists and hepatologists in the world completed an independent review analyzing findings from our Phase 2b study of seladelpar in patients with NASH.”“I am pleased to report that the panel unanimously concluded there was no clinical, biochemical or histological evidence of seladelpar-induced liver injury in the study, and as a result they also unanimously supported the lifting of the clinical hold and re-initiation of clinical development.”CymaBay now intends to reach out to the FDA to discuss all of the data it has collected to date and the results of the panel review meetings. Once initial feedback is gathered, CymaBay wants to submit a complete response to the seladelpar clinical hold to the FDA.At the same time the company announced Q1 GAAP EPS of -$0.19, which beat the Street consensus by $0.11. Research and development expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2020 were $9.5 million, compared to $18.6 million for the three months ended March 31, 2019.Meanwhile cash, equivalents and marketable securities came in at $176.23M (down 7.7% from the previous quarter). “We remain focused on cost containment and will look at additional steps we can take into fiscal year 2020 in order to closely control the Company’s operating expenses and associated cash burn” commented Shah.The Street gives CBAY a cautiously optimistic Moderate Buy analyst consensus with 3 recent buy ratings and 2 hold ratings. The average analyst price target stands at $2.78 (51% upside potential). (See CymaBay stock analysis on TipRanks).Related News: GW Pharma Pops 9% After-Hours As Epidiolex Smokes Expectations 3 Stocks Needham’s Top Analysts Are Raving About Solid Biosciences: Keep Your Eyes On The Prize Says Top Analyst More recent articles from Smarter Analyst: * Moderna’s COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate Gets FDA Fast Track Status * Hyatt Hotels Lays Off 1,300 Workers as Virus Pandemic Freezes Travel Demand * 2 Cruise Line Stocks to Bet on After the Coronavirus Crisis (And 1 to Avoid) * Peloton Shares Increase on 1 Million Fitness Subscriber Milestone

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  • Moderna’s COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate Gets FDA Fast Track Status

    Moderna’s COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate Gets FDA Fast Track StatusModerna Inc. (MRNA) announced on Tuesday that its experimental coronavirus vaccine has been granted fast track status by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).The fast track status designation is awarded to speed up the regulatory review of its novel coronavirus vaccine candidate (mRNA-1273).Last week, the FDA completed its review of Moderna’s Investigational New Drug (IND) application for mRNA-1273 allowing it to proceed to a Phase 2 study, which is expected to begin shortly. The clinical stage biotech company said it is finalizing the protocol for a Phase 3 study, expected to begin in early summer of 2020.“Fast Track designation underscores the urgent need for a vaccine against the novel coronavirus,” said Tal Zaks, Chief Medical Officer at Moderna. “As we await the full set of clinical data from the NIAID-led Phase 1 study, we are actively preparing for our Phase 2 and Phase 3 clinical studies to continue learning about the potential of mRNA-1273 to protect against SARS-CoV-2.”By utilizing messenger RNA (mRNA) science, Moderna hopes to create a new class of transformative medicines for patients. mRNA medicines are designed to direct the body’s cells to produce intracellular, membrane or secreted proteins that can have a therapeutic or preventive benefit and have the potential to address a broad spectrum of diseases.Moderna shares dropped 2.7% to $65.04 in morning U.S. trading after the stock more than tripled this year.Five-star analyst Yasmeen Rahimi at Roth Capital raised Moderna’s price target to $68 from $41, while maintaining a Buy rating on the shares, saying that with the near-term start of a Phase 2 study for its COVID-19 vaccine, the company remains the front-runner in getting a vaccine to pivotal trials with potential approval by 2021.Although analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on Moderna stock based on 9 Buys and 2 Holds, its recent rally means that the $54.30 average price target now indicates 17% downside potential from current levels. (See Moderna stock analysis on TipRanks).Related News: Novavax Spikes 31% on $384 Million Cash Injection for Vaccine Production CymaBay Doubles After-Hours On Positive NASH Trial Update Genfit Craters 49% On Failed NASH Trial; Top Analyst ‘Not Surprised’ More recent articles from Smarter Analyst: * Hyatt Hotels Lays Off 1,300 Workers as Virus Pandemic Freezes Travel Demand * 2 Cruise Line Stocks to Bet on After the Coronavirus Crisis (And 1 to Avoid) * Peloton Shares Increase on 1 Million Fitness Subscriber Milestone * Logitech Leaps Almost 6% As Stay-At-Home Orders Boost Quarterly Sales

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  • Steak ‘n Shake permanently closing 57 restaurants amid coronavirus pandemic

    Steak 'n Shake permanently closing 57 restaurants amid coronavirus pandemic"The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected our operations and financial results," Biglari Holdings Inc. said in its first-quarter earnings report.

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  • Uber will reportedly make offer to buy Grubhub

    Uber will reportedly make offer to buy GrubhubUber reportedly approached takeout food-delivery service Grubhub with a takeover offer, according to Bloomberg. Yahoo Finance’s Jared Blikre shares the details.

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  • President Trump sides with Elon Musk on reopening assembly plant

    President Trump sides with Elon Musk on reopening assembly plantYahoo Finance’s Brian Sozzi and Rick Newman discuss Elon Musk’s latest moves amid the coronavirus outbreak, and President Trump’s reaction.

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  • Apple stock rises after iPhone 12 details revealed

    Apple stock rises after iPhone 12 details revealedYahoo Finance’s Brian Sozzi and Heidi Chung break down the market action for Apple.

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