BRISBANE, Calif. — Fordyce Marshall, president and CEO of Vera Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:VERA), recently completed a series of stock transactions, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. On December 11th, Marshall sold 17,500 shares of Class A common stock, netting approximately $821,523. Shares were traded at prices ranging from $46.9112 to $47.65. The transaction comes as VERA’s stock has risen nearly 200% year-to-date, according to InvestingPro.
In addition to the sales, Marshall acquired a total of 17,500 shares through the exercise of stock options at a price of $2.8968 per share, for $50,694. These transactions were made as part of a prearranged trading plan under Rule 10b5-1, which allows insiders to create a trading plan to sell shares they own.
Following these transactions, Marshall directly owns 85,942 shares, with an additional 222,030 shares indirectly owned by the Grantee Retained Annuity Trust (GRAT). Vera Therapeutics, based in Brisbane, California, is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing treatments for immunological diseases.
In other recent news, Vera Therapeutics has made significant strides in its clinical development and strategic planning. The company’s lead product candidate, atacizep, demonstrated its efficacy in the treatment of IgA nephropathy (IgAN) in the ORIGIN Phase 2b clinical trial and has been granted FDA breakthrough therapy designation. Vera Therapeutics is expected to present long-term results from the trial at the 2024 American Society of Nephrology meeting next week.
TD Cowen and Evercore ISI maintained buy and upgrade ratings on Vera Therapeutics, respectively, reflecting confidence in the company’s strategic direction and clinical progress for atacicept. JPMorgan also reaffirmed an overweight rating on Vera Therapeutics and boosted its price target from $62.00 to $72.00.
Vera Therapeutics is expanding its clinical program for atacicept to treat a broader spectrum of autoimmune kidney diseases. The company plans to start the ORIGIN Extend study in the fourth quarter of 2024 and the PIONEER study in 2025, which will evaluate the efficacy of atacicept in the general population and in other autoimmune glomerular diseases.
In a leadership development, the company appointed David Johnson as its new Chief Operating Officer, bringing valuable experience from his previous roles. These are the latest developments at Vera Therapeutics, as reported by various sources.
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