Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) said it expects to make US$18.4bn (£13bn) in revenue this year as governments worldwide have booked millions of doses of its COVID-19 vaccine.
In 2020, total revenue rocketed 93% to US$803mln, mostly due to grants by the US government to speed up the development of the jab.
In fact, research and development expenses were US$1.37bn last year, with net loss standing at US$747mln from US$514mln in 2019.
Meanwhile, the biotech firm is to start the first phase of clinical trials for the version of the vaccine designed to target the South African variant.
In-vitro tests carried out last month showed that the inoculation produced a neutralising effect.
It does what it says on the tin
A study on 1.2mln people in Israel has proven that the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer (NYSE:PFI) and BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) was highly effective in preventing serious illness and symptoms.
The real-world, peer-reviewed analysis, published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine, showed that two doses of the jab reduced symptoms by 94%, hospitalisation by 87% and death by 72%.
“This study in a nationwide mass vaccination setting suggests that the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine is effective for a wide range of Covid-19–related outcomes, a finding consistent with that of the randomized trial,” the paper said.
In November, the two developers posted late-stage clinical trial results proving that the formulation was 95% effective against the virus.
Shares in Moderna advanced 4% to US$151, BioNTech rose 1% to US$114.81 and Pfizer was flat at US$33.82 in premarket trading.