Post by Nadica (She/Her) on Sept 14, 2024 23:36:49 GMT
Moderna scales back vaccine ambitions as COVID shot revenue plunges - Published Sept 12, 2024
Today in "how for-profit healthcare systems are literally going to get us all killed"
By Nathan Bomey
Moderna is dialing back its plans for new vaccines, shelving several key projects as it grapples with a sharp slowdown in COVID shot sales.
Why it matters: The company came to the world's rescue during the pandemic, but the pharmaceutical industry is still a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately business.
Between the lines: Moderna plans to "slow down the pace of new R&D investment, and build our commercial business," CEO Stéphane Bancel said in a statement.
It'll reduce annual R&D expenses from $4.8 billion in 2024 to $3.6B-$3.8B in 2027, including by ditching several programs.
The big picture: The company had been using the initial windfall of revenue it reaped from COVID shots to invest in new vaccines, hoping to develop a sustainable pipeline of future products.
It expects 10 to win approval in the next three years, including a combination flu-COVID vaccine.
Yes, but: Many of its future vaccines aren't moving quickly enough to bolster the top or bottom line.
The company's second-quarter revenue totaled $241 million, a 43% drop from a year earlier, which it said was "primarily attributable to decreased sales of the Company's COVID-19 vaccine."
The upshot is that Moderna isn't expected to turn a profit until 2028, according to a research note by Jefferies analyst Michael Yee cited by CNBC.
The impact: Moderna's stock fell over 12% Thursday, having tumbled from its all-time high above $449 in September 2021 — a wipeout of nearly $170 billion of market value over the three years.
The intrigue: In 2020, tackling COVID was a one-way ticket to a financial windfall.
But now the industry's obsession has moved on — most notably to lucrative weight-loss medications, which have triggered a sales and stock boom for the likes of Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk.
Lilly today announced its latest move to capitalize on demand for its GLP-1 anti-diabetes and anti-obesity drugs: an $800 million investment in an Ireland factory to boost production of the treatments.
The bottom line: Moderna's technology is promising, but COVID vaccines are no longer enough to sustain the full scale of its R&D ambitions.
Today in "how for-profit healthcare systems are literally going to get us all killed"
By Nathan Bomey
Moderna is dialing back its plans for new vaccines, shelving several key projects as it grapples with a sharp slowdown in COVID shot sales.
Why it matters: The company came to the world's rescue during the pandemic, but the pharmaceutical industry is still a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately business.
Between the lines: Moderna plans to "slow down the pace of new R&D investment, and build our commercial business," CEO Stéphane Bancel said in a statement.
It'll reduce annual R&D expenses from $4.8 billion in 2024 to $3.6B-$3.8B in 2027, including by ditching several programs.
The big picture: The company had been using the initial windfall of revenue it reaped from COVID shots to invest in new vaccines, hoping to develop a sustainable pipeline of future products.
It expects 10 to win approval in the next three years, including a combination flu-COVID vaccine.
Yes, but: Many of its future vaccines aren't moving quickly enough to bolster the top or bottom line.
The company's second-quarter revenue totaled $241 million, a 43% drop from a year earlier, which it said was "primarily attributable to decreased sales of the Company's COVID-19 vaccine."
The upshot is that Moderna isn't expected to turn a profit until 2028, according to a research note by Jefferies analyst Michael Yee cited by CNBC.
The impact: Moderna's stock fell over 12% Thursday, having tumbled from its all-time high above $449 in September 2021 — a wipeout of nearly $170 billion of market value over the three years.
The intrigue: In 2020, tackling COVID was a one-way ticket to a financial windfall.
But now the industry's obsession has moved on — most notably to lucrative weight-loss medications, which have triggered a sales and stock boom for the likes of Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk.
Lilly today announced its latest move to capitalize on demand for its GLP-1 anti-diabetes and anti-obesity drugs: an $800 million investment in an Ireland factory to boost production of the treatments.
The bottom line: Moderna's technology is promising, but COVID vaccines are no longer enough to sustain the full scale of its R&D ambitions.