Moderna cuts 2021 sales forecast for Covid-19 vaccine

MODERNA on Thursday (Nov 4) cut its 2021 sales forecast for its Covid-19 vaccine by as much as US$5 billion, as it struggles to ramp up production of its two-dose inoculation, sending its shares down nearly 11 per cent in premarket trading.

The company's sales target cut is in sharp contrast to that of its larger rival Pfizer, which earlier this week raised its sales forecast for its shot.

Moderna's deliveries have been uneven as the company and its contract manufacturers strive to expand production and bottling of the shots to meet unprecedented demand from countries.

The vaccine-maker said that it was seeing a temporary impact from the expansion of bottling capacity, also known as fill/finish, and that longer lead times for international shipments would push some deliveries to early 2022.

Moderna said that it was now expecting sales of between US$15 billion and US$18 billion from US$20 billion estimated previously.

The cut in sales forecast was also due to the prioritisation of deliveries to low-income countries.

Roughly 10 per cent of the vaccine's total supply is expected to go to low-income nations, chief executive officer Stephane Bancel said.

Deliveries were pegged between 700 million and 800 million doses for the year.

Moderna has said that it expects to make 800 million to 1 billion doses in 2021.

The Covid-19 vaccine brought in sales of US$4.8 billion in the third quarter.

Analysts had expected sales of US$5.86 billion, according to five analysts polled by Refinitiv.

Still, Moderna said its sales could be in the range of US$17 billion to US$22 billion next year as it signs deals with more countries for its vaccines and booster doses. REUTERS