Days after Pfizer and BioNTech reported surprisingly strong sales of their updated COVID-19 vaccines, Moderna has done the same.
The Massachusetts-based company said that third-quarter revenue from its Spikevax shot came in at $1.8 billion, with $1.2 billion of the sales coming in the United States. The overall figure topped last year’s performance for the quarter by 3% and smashed the analyst projection of $1.2 billion.
Last week, Pfizer reported third-quarter sales of its COVID shot Comirnaty at $1.4 billion, which was up 9% year over year. Three days ago, BioNTech revealed sales of its COVID vaccine at €1.24 billion ($1.35 billion) in the third quarter, which more than doubled the consensus estimate of $652 million.
In a conference call, Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said that the FDA granting approval of the adapted version of the vaccine 19 days earlier than in 2023 contributed to the sales surge in the third quarter. The company doesn’t expect a corresponding bump in annual revenue, sticking to its previous window of $3 billion to $3.5 billion.
Moderna added that it is now capturing 40% of the COVID vaccine market, which is a drop from the 45% figure the company reported at this time last year.
“Revenue pull-forward was a one-time benefit and adds risk to future write-downs as the COVID market continues to contract, and Moderna’s assumption of 10% volume decline YoY is highly optimistic," Mani Foroohar, an analyst at Leerink Partners, wrote in a note to clients.
Foroohar added that Moderna losing share to Pfizer highlights risk to its guidance in 2025 and beyond.
Moderna also reported sales of its RSV vaccine for the first time. The shot, mRESVIA, which was approved in May, generated $10 million in revenue, coming up far short of the analyst projection of $123 million.
The timing of its approval and the subsequent RSV recommendations from the CDC did not allow it to compete during the RSV “contracting season,” chief financial officer Jamey Mock said.
Bancel added that customers are more focused on COVID and flu vaccines this fall and that it “will be quite interesting to see what happens in Q1” with the demand for RSV vaccines.
The COVID vaccine sales bump allowed Moderna to turn a profit of $13 million ($.03 per share) in the quarter, the company said, versus an expected loss of $1.90 per share. In the third quarter of last year, Moderna reported a loss of $3.6 billion ($9.53 per share).
William Blair analyst Myles Minter, Ph.D., attributed the gain to "continued cost saving measures and lower-than-expected operating expense as the company continues to moderate its cost basis."
Minter also noted that Moderna narrowed its cost of sales guidance downward and adjusted operating expense guidance to $4.6 billion to $4.7 billion in R&D and $1.2 billion in SG&A from $1.3 billion, “which we believe bodes well on the cost-cutting side of the 2028 breakeven guidance reset.”
Moderna also said that president Stephen Hoge, M.D., would take over the chief commercial officer post from Bancel, expanding his role as the strategy chief for R&D and medical affairs. The company also promoted Jacqueline Miller, M.D., to the chief medical officer post and Rose Loughlin, Ph.D., who will head up research.