WASHINGTON, May 4 (BUS) – Moderna Inc on Wednesday forecast vaccine sales for the second half of the year to be higher than the first six months, as it expects the virus that causes COVID-19 to follow a seasonal pattern that requires booster shots to fall.
The US vaccine manufacturer is developing a potential next-generation booster that targets both the Omicron variant as well as the original strain of the coronavirus in hopes of producing broader protection, Reuters reports.
“A desirable trait for a Northern Hemisphere fall-winter enhancer that we believe will improve the robustness of neutralizing antibodies against Omicron,” said Stephen Hogg, President of Moderna.
Hoge expects annual boosters to be needed for people at risk of serious disease, which Moderna estimates consist of about 1.7 billion people worldwide.
Moderna has forecast COVID-19 vaccine sales to reach $21 billion in 2022, but cautioned that that could be lower if the international vaccine sharing program COVAX is unable to confirm demand for the shots from low- to middle-income countries.
However, chief financial officer David Millen said sales could be higher if the United States and other countries decide to sign contracts for a fall-boosting dose..
Pfizer on Tuesday maintained its 2022 forecast for sales of $32 billion if it developed its competitor’s COVID vaccine using BioNTech after increasing it every quarter last year, a sign of an astonishing slowdown in growth.
Sales of Moderna’s vaccine — its only commercial product — rose to $5.9 billion in the first quarter from $1.7 billion a year earlier. Total sales of $6.1 billion exceeded estimates of $4.62 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
insult