Moderna announced on Tuesday that it expects to generate between $8 billion and $15 billion in sales from its respiratory vaccines, including Covid, RSV, flu, and other respiratory illnesses, by 2027.
The biotech firm also stated that it expects to see an operating profit of $4 billion to $9 billion during the same period.
Moderna shared the announcement ahead of its Vaccine Day on Tuesday, where it presented updates on its vaccine portfolio to analysts and investors. The company expects to invest an additional $6 billion to $8 billion in research and development over the next few years to support these projections.
Moderna’s Covid vaccine generated $18 billion in sales last year, and the company estimates $5 billion in sales from the vaccine in 2023. Despite this significant drop, the company’s Covid vaccine remains its only commercially available product.
The highly anticipated flu vaccine from Moderna failed to meet the criteria for early success in a late-stage clinical trial, according to the company. Moderna is also working on six major vaccine products expected to launch “in the next few years.”
Jefferies Analyst Michael Yee called the new 2027 guidance “an upside to the low profitability expected this year given the smaller” Covid market. However, Yee also noted that investors may debate the guidance because it remains unclear where seasonal viruses are headed, especially Covid, for now.
Moderna’s projections come as other pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer and BioNTech, are also working on developing respiratory vaccines. Pfizer recently shared data on its experimental RSV vaccine, which it plans to move into late-stage clinical trials. BioNTech, on the other hand, is developing a flu vaccine in partnership with Pfizer.
The race to develop respiratory vaccines continues as new variants of Covid and other respiratory illnesses emerge. The success of these vaccines could be critical in preventing future outbreaks and limiting the impact of existing ones.
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