|
 That compares favorably to data released by rivals Pfizer Inc and
BioNTech SE last week in which they suggested their vaccine's
efficacy waned around 6% every two months, declining to around 84%
six months after the second shot. Both the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech
vaccines are based on messenger RNA (mRNA) technology.
"We are very pleased that our COVID-19 vaccine efficacy is stable at
93% from four to six months," Moderna Chief Executive Stéphane
Bancel said in a statement. "This strong duration will benefit the
hundreds of millions of people who have been dosed to date with
Moderna vaccines."
Moderna posted second-quarter sales of $4.4 billion, slightly above
an average estimate of $4.2 billion drawn from 10 analysts polled by
Refinitiv. Its COVID-19 shot is the firm's first authorized product
and sales were just $67 million in the same period last year.
The company logged $2.78 billion in net income in the quarter or
$6.46 a share, beating expectations of $2.46 billion or $5.96 a
share.
A durable vaccine could mean recipients may be able to wait longer
between shots if they do eventually need a booster or may even not
need additional doses to prevent COVID-19.
Public health authorities around the world grappling with the highly
transmissible Delta variant are debating whether additional doses of
COVID-19 vaccines are safe, effective and necessary. Pfizer plans to
ask for authorization for a third shot of its vaccine later this
month, and some countries - like Israel – have already begun or plan
to soon begin administering shots to older or otherwise vulnerable
people.
[to top of second column] |
 Moderna said its ongoing
studies of three different booster candidates
induced robust antibody responses against
important variants of concern. These included
the Gamma, Beta and Delta variants which were
first identified in Brazil, South Africa and
India respectively. It said neutralizing
antibody levels following the boost approached
those observed after the second shot of its
vaccine. For this year, Moderna
has signed $20 billion worth of sales and expects to be able to
produce between 800 million and 1 billion doses of the vaccine. It
has agreements for $12 billion in 2022, with options for another
roughly $8 billion. It expects to be able to produce between 2 and 3
billion doses next year. The company has not been
able to keep pace with the production of much larger rival Pfizer,
which expects to produce as many as 3 billion vaccine doses this
year, and expects 2021 sales of the vaccine
https://www.reuters.com/
business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/pfizer-raises-estimates-2021-sales-covid-19-vaccine-335-bln-2021-07-28
it developed with BioNTech to top $33.5 billion. Moderna's vaccine
was authorized for emergency use in adults in the United States in
December and has since been cleared for emergency or conditional use
in adults in more than 50 countries.
The company started the process of filing for full approval with the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration in June and expects to finish its
submission in August.
(Reporting by Michael Erman; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
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