Moderna, Bayer-backed Metagenomi stock drops 32% on Nasdaq debut

Metagenomi Therapeutics

09/02/2024 19:33

Feb 9 (Reuters) - Shares of Metagenomi Technologies
 MGX.O , a genetic medicines company backed by Bayer Healthcare
 BAYGn.DE  and Moderna  MRNA.O , slumped 32% in their Nasdaq
debut on Friday.
    The stock opened for trading at $10.25 compared with the IPO
price of $15 per share.
    The lukewarm debut, which gives Metagenomi a valuation of
$384 million, underscores the unpredictability young startups
face as they seek stock listings.
    The company, which is developing therapies for genetic
diseases like hemophilia A, has yet to turn a profit. Its
revenue has been generated from three collaboration agreements,
including one with Moderna, and not from product sales.
    Over the past two years, IPO investors have preferred to
back profitable companies over growth-at-all-costs startups as
the Federal Reserve has kept borrowing costs at record-high
levels.
    Even with increasing bets of a soft landing this year, the
recovery in the IPO market has been uneven so far.
    Among the healthcare and pharmaceutical-related firms that
have been listed recently,  CG Oncology  CGON.O  and Kyverna
Therapeutics  KYTX.O  have been received well, while
BrightSpring Health Services  BTSG.O  has traded lower. 
        Metagenomi on Thursday priced its shares at the lower
end of the $15 to $17 range it had marketed. 
  
    Last year, the company raised $275 million in a private
funding round.
    J.P.Morgan, Jefferies and TD Cowen are among the
underwriters for the IPO. 
    
    
    

 (Reporting by Niket Nishant and Mehnaz Yasmin in Bengaluru;
Editing by Tasim Zahid)
 ((Niket.Nishant@thomsonreuters.com;))