Biotech company Moderna posted much lower sales in the first three months of the year than a year earlier, as demand for its vaccine against the coronavirus has fallen sharply. Experts had expected an even stronger decline.
The Corona vaccines, the only product Moderna can sell, generated 1.8 billion dollars (1.6 billion euros) in turnover for the American company in the first quarter. That was nearly $6 billion a year earlier. Nevertheless, the company posted a small profit of $79 million, a fraction of its $3.7 billion profit a year earlier. Moderna owes that this net result was still favourable to a tax windfall. Without that benefit, the company would have suffered a loss.
Much of the revenue was due to delayed deliveries of vaccines that Moderna was supposed to sell in 2022. At the same time, the company had to write off nearly $150 million on obsolete inventory and lost money to factories that make its vaccines. In addition, the company suffered losses on specific contracts in which Moderna committed itself to purchase those vaccines.
Moderna expects to sell at least $ 5 billion corona vaccines this year. Looking to the future, the company also hopes to earn money from vaccines against the RS virus, which can make very young children or the elderly very ill. The company also has a remedy for the flu and an updated Covid-19 vaccine. The company expects to earn $8 to $15 billion annually from these new products by 2027.
