ABUS Stock On Track For Best Day In About Two Months — What’s The Moderna Connection?

• Arbutus now expects a dividend from Roivant in the third quarter, owing to its stake in the Genevant parent. 
• The company said it expects to begin returning up to about $230 million to shareholders through share repurchases starting in the third quarter.
• Following the successful payout from Moderna, Arbutus and Genevant also filed three lawsuits against Pfizer Inc., BioNTech SE and certain of their affiliates.

Arbutus Biopharma (ABUS) stock rose 6% on Thursday after the company announced new international patent lawsuits, receipt of a large settlement payment from Moderna and plans to return up to $230 million to shareholders.

The stock is now on track for its best day since May 2026 after five consecutive days of trading in the red.

Moderna’s Settlement Payout

On July 8, Arbutus received around $178 million from Moderna, the company said. This represents its share of the payment under the March 2026 global settlement that resolved all patent litigation over Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines.

In March, Arbutus and its partner Genevant Sciences, a unit of Roivant Sciences (ROIV), reached a global settlement with Moderna worth up to $2.25 billion to resolve a long-running dispute over technology used in Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines. Under the agreement, Moderna is required to make a $950 million upfront payment to both parties, and the payout on July 8 was part of it. The remaining will be paid to Genevant under the settlement agreement.

The Moderna patent litigation centered on whether Moderna had used Arbutus’s patented technology without permission in its COVID-19 vaccine. At its core, the dispute was over lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), the tiny fat particles that protect and deliver mRNA into human cells. Without effective LNPs, mRNA vaccines like Moderna’s covid vaccine Spikevax would not work well. Arbutus had developed and patented specific LNP formulations years before the pandemic.

Arbutus now expects a dividend from Roivant in the third quarter, owing to its stake in the Genevant parent.

Share Buyback

Arbutus said it expects to begin returning up to about $230 million to shareholders through share repurchases starting in the third quarter. The buybacks may take the form of a tender offer, open-market purchases, or other methods and will follow receipt of the expected Genevant dividend. However, there is no assurance of the share repurchase activity, the company noted.

ABUS Files Fresh Patent Lawsuits

Following the successful payout from Moderna, Arbutus and Genevant also filed three lawsuits against Pfizer Inc., BioNTech SE and certain of their affiliates to enforce patents covering lipid nanoparticle (LNP) technology used in their mRNA COVID-19 vaccines.

Cases were lodged in Canada’s Federal Court and two proceedings at the Unified Patent Court in Europe. The company seeks damages and injunctions against Pfizer/BioNTech’s vaccines and any future infringing products. These actions expand an ongoing U.S. patent case in New Jersey.

How Did ABUS Retail Traders React?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around ABUS stock stayed within the ‘bullish’ territory over the past 24 hours, while message volume stayed at ‘high’ levels.

A Stocktwits user opined that ABUS stock is worth a lot more than its current trading levels.

Another user applauded the news as excellent. “...for shareholders it would significantly increase our ownership percentage in the company and will amplify the value of any future positive developments,” they wrote.

According to data from Koyfin, both the analysts covering ABUS rate it a ‘buy’. The stock has a 12-month average price target of $5.14, representing a potential upside of about 13% from its last close.

ABUS stock has fallen 1% year-to-date.

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