In early Thursday morning trading, Moderna stocks tumbled by 16% after the company revealed unexpected challenges in its Q3 earnings report.
In the statement, the company lowered its mRNA vaccine delivery forecasts for 2021 from 800 million-1 billion to 700-800 million. Blaming production challenges, the company said many of the shipments are now expected to be delivered in 2022. The company also plans to shift its focus to lower-income countries in 2022.
The change shrunk its vaccine sales forecast from $20 billion to $15-18 billion.
In the earnings report, Moderna also said that it plans to discontinue its development program for an mRNA antibody treatment targeting chikungunya virus. The company did not say why it’s putting the brakes on the development of the program, which had moved through phase 1 trials. But Moderna said it will report the full results of its phase 1 study of the treatment “soon.”
Chikungunya virus is spread through mosquitoes and can cause a sudden onset of fevers and debilitating joint pain. Although the virus is rare, outbreaks in parts of Africa have at times inflicted the large majority of impacted towns. There is no approved vaccine or effective antiviral treatment for the virus.
