Moderna’s sales of the Corona vaccine fell in the first quarter of the year, with some costs rising, but Wall Street expected this and its sales exceeded expectations.
Moderna reported that its profits from the Spikefax vaccine fell to $1.83 billion in the quarter, from about $6 billion a year ago.
Vaccine sales are expected to decline in the second quarter of the year as governments deplete their stocks.
Moderna added Thursday that it remains on track to deliver more vaccines through advance purchase agreements worth $5 billion for 2023.
He also reported that he was making progress with pharmacies, hospitals and government agencies on contracts for fall vaccines.
The Spikefax vaccine is a major source of profit for Moderna, but the company is also developing other vaccines, including one for the flu and another for a respiratory disease known as human respiratory syncytial virus.
Moderna’s research and development spending doubled in the first quarter to $1.1 billion as the drugmaker spends on clinical trials of potential vaccines.
Overall, Moderna’s first-quarter revenue fell to $79 million from $3.7 billion.
Pfizer revenue beats expectations
Rival Pfizer also reported a sharp drop in sales of its coronavirus vaccine, Commernati, as vaccine companies turned to commercial sales this year after selling out massive contracts to governments.
But Pfizer also beat Wall Street expectations despite declining sales of its COVID-19 vaccine in the first quarter.
Pfizer’s revenue from vaccine sales fell 77% to $3 billion in the first three months of the year, from more than $13 billion in the same period last year.
The decline was widely expected due to the company’s shift this year from supplying vaccines to governments under lucrative contracts to selling them in the commercial market.
Pfizer is also changing its direction to a Covid drug, Paxlovid, which had sales of more than $4 billion in the previous quarter.
The vaccine and drug generated billions in revenue for the company in the previous period. But the company also produces a growing range of other cancer drugs and vaccines.
New York-based Pfizer earned $5.54 billion in the first quarter, with a total share price of $1.23.
Revenue fell 29% to $18.3 billion.
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