Maddie Meyer/Getty Images News
In conjunction with its R&D Day event on Wednesday, COVID-19 vaccine maker Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) said it expects to add $10B – $15B in annual sales five years after launching new products in oncology, rare diseases, and latent diseases by 2028.
The company also intends to invest about $25B in R&D from 2024 to 2028 to support this organic growth.
While reaffirming its 2023 sales guidance of $6B–$8B for its COVID-19 vaccine, Moderna (MRNA) acknowledged its cost of sales for the year will remain higher.
However, the company said steps are underway to resize its manufacturing footprint and supply base to speedily expand its gross margin to the long-term target of 75–80%.
The sales forecast is in addition to the $8B–15B sales the biotech previously projected for 2027 from its respiratory franchise, which houses its COVID-19 vaccine and experimental vaccines against Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) and flu virus.
Announcing interim data from a third Phase 3 trial for its flu vaccine mRNA-1010, the company said on Wednesday that the trial, which tested an updated formulation of the mRNA-based vaccine, reached all co-primary endpoints across all four A and B strains.
Higher antibody levels and seroconversion rates were found in relation to the licensed comparator Fluarix from GSK (GSK). Discussions with regulators are ongoing to prepare a potential licensing package for mRNA-1010 based on the data.
“Our mRNA platform is working. With today’s positive Phase 3 flu results, along with previous results in COVID and RSV, we are now three for three on advancing respiratory disease programs to positive Phase 3 data,” CEO Stéphane Bancel said ahead of the R&D event at 1:00 p.m. ET.
Other highlights of the update include plans to run a second Phase 3 trial to study the company’s mRNA-based cancer therapy mRNA-4157 with Merck’s (MRNA) anti-PD-1 immunotherapy Keytruda for non-small cell lung cancer later this year.
New data from the ongoing Phase 2 trial for the combination in patients with resected high-risk melanoma is also expected in Q4 2023. The company started a pivotal Phase 3 trial for the drug combination targeting the same indication in July.
