Translate Bio CFO Steps Down For Personal Reasons; Shares Drop 5%

Translate Bio on Dec. 22 announced that its CFO John Schroer will leave his post the end of this month for personal reasons. Shares of the mRNA therapeutics company lost 4.5% at the close on Tuesday

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Following the departure, Translate Bio’s (TBIO) VP Robert Prentiss will serve as Principal Accounting Officer and report directly to the CEO, Ronald Renaud, on an interim basis. Messenger RNA refers to molecules that carry the genetic information needed to make proteins.

“We respect and support John’s decision to return to the Bay Area, and we thank him for his contributions and wish him every success in the future.” said Renaud.

Roth Capital analyst Anthony Butler reiterated a Buy rating on the stock and raised the price target from $30 to $37 (a 51% upside potential).

Butler noted that emergency use authorization has now been granted to two mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines, which are the ones by Pfizer (PFE) and German partner BioNTech and Moderna (MRNA). The approvals have substantially de-risked mRNA vaccines in general with efficacy and safety established at greater than 95% in trials having more than 40,000 participants each. (See TBIO stock analysis on TipRanks)

Butler said that the success of the vaccines to prevent COVID-19 should also raise the confidence for the efficiency of mRNA-based vaccines against other infectious agents.

From the rest of the Street, the stock scores an analyst consensus of a Strong Buy based on 5 unanimous Buys. The average analyst price target of $30 implies upside potential of close to 23% at current levels.