By Christiana Sciaudone
Investing.com -- Shares of biotech firm Inovio Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:INO) Inc. soared 18%, to reach a 16-year high at $28 on Thursday, even after Citron Research said shares would tumble.
Inovio said Tuesday it was receiving $71 million from the U.S. Department of Defense to manufacture a device used to administer an Inovio vaccine against Covid-19 that has not been approved.
Citron, calling Inovio a favorite stock of Robinhood investors, said the shares are likely to drop by 50%, to $14. In April, the short-seller compared Inovio to Theranos, the fraudulent blood testing company that has since dissolved.
Coronavirus cases are increasing in large swaths of the U.S. and Brazil, which together account for more than 3 million cases of Covid-19.