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Benzinga
Benzinga
Business
Vandana Singh

mRNA Vaccine Maker Moderna Lowers R&D Spending, Tightens Sales Forecast

Augsburg,,Bavaria,,Germany,-,March,21,,2021:,Vials,With,The

Moderna Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) reported a third-quarter loss of 51 cents, beating the expected loss of $2.02, a turnaround from an income of 3 cents a year ago.

The COVID-19 vaccine maker reported quarterly sales of $1.02 billion, topping the expected $886.54 million.

Sales declined 45% to $1.9 billion from a year ago, primarily due to a $847 million, or 47%, decrease in net product sales, as COVID vaccine sales decreased.

In the U.S., lower sales reflected decreased vaccination rates.

Moderna began U.S. commercial sales of mNEXSPIKE for the 2025-2026 respiratory virus season. International revenue fell, largely due to the end of certain government contracts and delivery timing.

Also Read: Moderna Stops CMV Program As Vaccine Falls Short In Preventing Infection

The company reported $971 million in Q3 2025 COVID vaccine sales, with $781 million from the U.S. and $190 million from international markets. mRESVIA (RSV vaccine) sales totaled $2 million.

Q3 2025 cost of sales was $207 million, including $43 million in third-party royalties and $67 million in inventory write-downs.

The cost of sales decreased by 60% from the previous year, primarily due to fewer inventory write-downs, lower unutilized manufacturing capacity, and a decline in volume.

R&D expenses were $801 million, a 30% decrease from the previous year, primarily due to investment prioritization and more efficient clinical trials.

As of September 30, 2025, cash, cash equivalents, and investments totaled $6.6 billion, down from $7.5 billion as of June 30, 2025. This decrease during the quarter was mainly due to seasonal impacts on working capital.

Outlook

Turning to guidance, Moderna narrowed its fiscal year sales guidance from $1.5 billion to $2.2 billion to $1.6 billion to $2 billion, versus the consensus of $1.899 billion.

The 2025 cost of sales is expected to be $0.8-$0.9 billion, down from $1.2 billion. R&D expenses are projected at $3.3-$3.4 billion, lowered from previous estimates of $3.6-$3.8 billion.

Year-end 2025 cash and investments are projected at $6.5-$7 billion, up from about $6 billion expected earlier.

Pipeline

Moderna expects to complete the approval submissions for mRNA-1010 (a Seasonal flu vaccine) in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and Europe by January 2026.

The company plans to refile for approval of the flu/COVID combination vaccine (mRNA-1083) with Health Canada in 2025; meanwhile, it is awaiting further guidance from the FDA. At the same time, the mRNA-1083 filing is under review with the EMA.

MRNA Price Action: Moderna shares were up 3.82% at $24.45 at the time of publication on Thursday. The stock is near its 52-week low of $23.15, according to Benzinga Pro data.

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