By
Godfrey Benjamin
October 4th, 2023
Massachusetts-Based biotechnology company Moderna Inc (NASDAQ: MRNA), one of the top pharmaceutical companies in search of a COVID-19 vaccine, has released its Q3 financial earnings while confirming its preparations to meet up with the expected surge in demand for its vaccine once approved.
According to a report by CNBC, Moderna has amassed about US$1.1 billion from interested world governments including the United States of America, countries in the Middle East, and other parts of the world. Moderna Inc (NASDAQ: MRNA) is also currently in talks with the World Health Organization-backed COVAX initiative with respect to the pricing of the company’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate tagged mRNA-1273.
According to the company’s Chief Executive Officer Stephane Bancel, who said in a statement:
“We are actively preparing for the launch of mRNA-1273 and we have signed a number of supply agreements with governments around the world. Moderna is committed to the highest data quality standards and rigorous scientific research as we continue to work with regulators to advance mRNA-1273.”
Moderna, as well as its investors, are awaiting the result from the mRNA-1273 late-stage trials that have enrolled approximately 30,000 participants. The company expects this trial to usher in what it described as the pivotal Phase 3 trial which is expected to commence in 2021. In giving the detailed highlights of the ongoing trials, Moderna gave the age demographics of the participants with 42% in the high-risk category with age 65 years and above.
Overview of Moderna Inc’s Q3 Earnings
Moderna showcased a strong performance in the third quarter as revealed in its reported earnings. Besides the receipt of $1.1 billion of customer deposits for the supply of mRNA-1273 in Q3 2020 which was duly recorded as deferred revenue, Moderna revealed that its cash, cash equivalents, and investments as of September 30, 2020, came in at $3.97 billion.
Other highpoints of the quarter include a total revenue was $157.9 million as against the $17.0 million reported in the same period in 2019. The third-quarter revenue also consolidated the Total revenue for the past nine months in 2020 with the firm reporting a Total revenue of $232.7 million for the period ended September 30, 2020, as against the $46.2 million for the year-ago period.
The firm spent a total of $344.5 million for Research and Development related expenses for the quarter and reported a Net loss was $233.6 million for the three months ended September 30, 2020, compared to $123.2 million for the same period in 2019. In terms of profitability, Bancel said he expects the 2021 financial year to be an “Inflection year” for the company. Per his words:
“I believe that if we launch our COVID-19 vaccine, 2021 could be the most important inflection year in Moderna’s history. We will have the resources to scale Moderna to maximize the impact we can have on patients in the next 10 years through numerous new medicines.”