Moderna wants investors to look beyond COVID
Stocks

January 19, 2023
We all know Moderna for one thing…
But the company wants investors to look at it for more than just a piece of COVID vaccine.
To most, COVID has become a thing of the past, and the World Health Organization has seen a sharp decrease in vaccine demand.
It’s uncertain where demand will stabilize.
Moderna is watching its sales evaporate:
- Moderna’s sales went from near zero in 2021 to $18.4B in 2022.
- This year, it forecasts its sales to be at least ~$5B (72% decline).
$MRNA has risen over 60% since October from positive results on its:
1/ Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine. Results from this week show an 83.7% effectiveness at preventing RSV in those aged 60+.
- RSV leads to 60K-120K hospitalizations each year.
- Analysts predict the RSV vaccine market could be worth $5B+.
2/ Vaccine for deadly skin cancer Melanoma — which impacts over 100K people in the US yearly.
- In December, Moderna released positive results, showing a 44% cut in recurrence or death.
- The drug is being developed in partnership with Merck (NYSE:MRK) — expecting to move into Phase 3 clinical trials this year.
What’s next? Moderna is using its cutting-edge Messenger RNA (mRNA) technique to develop other vaccines. They’ve got 48 programs in development, 36 ongoing clinical trials and four drugs in Phase 3 clinical trials — which $MRNA’s fortunes are heavily dependent on.