Moderna Reports Drop in Revenue, Driven by Lower COVID-19 Vaccine Sales

The Moderna campus in Norwood, Mass. on Dec. 2, 2020. (Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images)

Moderna reported a decline in revenue in the first quarter of 2023 due to lower sales of its COVID-19 vaccines.

Moderna made $1.9 billion in revenue in the first quarter of 2023, down 68 percent from the first quarter of 2022. The bulk of the revenue came from 2022 deferrals.

The outlook for 2023 is unchanged. Moderna still expects COVID-19 vaccine sales of $5 billion for 2023, based largely on advance purchase agreements from governments.

Executives are also negotiating contracts with pharmacies, hospitals, and government agencies in the United States, Japan, and Europe, and recently reached an agreement for more shots with Australia. They estimate Americans alone will receive 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines annually moving forward.

U.S. authorities recently cleared and recommended one additional dose of a vaccine to certain populations, but uptake has dropped sharply from its peak in 2021.

The updated framework mimics how influenza vaccines are made. Experts look at circulating variants and recommend updated formulations, and companies that make the vaccines then produce new versions each year. U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials are scheduled to meet with their advisers in June to discuss and recommend which strain or strains should be targeted in the fall and winter.

The U.S. government has been buying COVID-19 vaccines and providing them at no additional cost to taxpayers, but the vaccines are transitioning to the commercial market later this year.

Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines are its first products, but the company is working on a slew of other shots, including a combination influenza/COVID-19 shot.

Moderna hopes to launch influenza and respiratory syncytial virus vaccines in 2024. Also in the pipeline is an updated, refrigerator-stable COVID-19 vaccine for which a phase 3 trial has been initiated.

The company has made some $36 billion from the COVID-19 vaccines, which have been widely utilized around the world.

But their effectiveness has grown worse and worse with the emergence of newer variants. U.S. data indicate the vaccines don’t protect well against symptomatic infection and provide short-lived shielding against severe illness.

Moderna made $19.3 billion in 2022, up slightly from 2021. It has said that it expected to lose money in 2023. Moderna projects annual sales of $8–15 billion by 2027 if some of the new vaccines are cleared by regulators.

Pfizer, Moderna’s chief competitor in the United States, this week reported $7.1 billion from its COVID-19 vaccines and a pill meant to treat COVID-19. Officials said the drop in sales was expected. Pfizer is also working on a combination influenza/COVID-19 shot, projecting annual demand north of 76 million doses.