Moderna Inc was expected to see US$20bn wiped of its value when US markets open this afternoon after it cut its forecast for sales of its pioneering COVID-19 vaccine.
The US pharma reduced its 2021 sales forecast for the vaccine by up US$5bn due to problems ramping up production.
Moderna has been swamped by demand for its shot, especially as countries already largely through an initial vaccine programme are rushing to implement booster campaigns.
Bottling capacity is proving a problem it said with longer lead times pushing some sales into the 2022 financial year.
Moderna said it was now expecting sales of between US$15bn and US$18bn from its vaccine against US$20bn previously.
The company has been criticised recently for the poor supply of its vaccine to low-income countries but said today that part of the reason for the lower sales was that a tenth of supplies had been earmarked for poorer countries.
Earlier this week, fellow mRNA vaccine maker Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) raised its sales forecast due to the surge in demand for booster shots.
Pre-market, Moderna was tipped to open down 15% at US$293.64.