By George Glover

Moderna stock was rallying on Wednesday after the vaccine maker said it had settled with Arbutus Biopharma and Genevant Sciences to resolve patent litigation.

Shares in Moderna jumped 5.4% to $52.50 in premarket trading, after falling 5.7% in the previous session. Arbutus dropped 12% to $4.12. Futures tracking the S&P 500 were flat as investors continued to weigh up about a drawn-out war in Iran.

Moderna said after Tuesday's close that it had agreed to pay $950 million to settle all litigiation related to its Spikevax and mResvia vaccines.

Moderna will appeal to a federal circuit court to argue that it has limited liability as a government contractor. If it loses the appeal, it will pay another $1.3 billion to Arbutus and Genevant within 90 days.

The company said in its statement on Tuesday that that loss was "not probable" and it expects to record no additional charge in its first-quarter earnings.

"We are pleased with this settlement, which allows us to put this lengthy dispute behind us and remain focused on our mission to leverage our world-class nucleic acid delivery systems to bring innovative medicines to people who need them," Genevant CEO James Heyes said.

Arbutus and Genevant sued Moderna last year, saying that they held patents covering the lipid nanoparticle technology used in Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine.

For the market, the settlement is likely to remove an overhang for shares.

"Investor expectations were all over the map," Evercore ISI analyst Cory Kasimov said, noting that bear-case scenarios were accounting for a much larger settlement, given that Moderna has generated $45 billion to $50 billion in Covid-19 vaccine revenue.

"Against that backdrop, the settlement appears manageable and eliminates a meaningful tail risk," Kasimov, who rates the stock at In Line with a price target of $35, added. "We see the news as incrementally positive for Moderna."

The smaller-than-expected payout could help Moderna to extend a recent rally. The stock has jumped 69% this year, with investors hopeful that a pipeline of cancer drugs can drive earnings growth at a time when the company's core respiratory vaccine business is floundering.

Write to George Glover at george.glover@dowjones.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 04, 2026 05:25 ET (10:25 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.