Moderna
Moderna is a pharmaceutical and biotechnology company that focuses on RNA therapies, primarily mRNA vaccines. These vaccines use a copy of a molecule called messenger RNA (mRNA) to produce an immune response. They also have a manufacturing plant that allows for rapid clinical and commercial production of vaccines and therapeutics at scale.
Employees: 3,700
Revenue: $18.5bn for FY2021
HQ Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
What they do:
Moderna develops and discovers drugs that produce proteins or antibodies inside a patient's cells.
Their pipeline includes: vaccines, intratumoral Immuno-oncology (therapy using a patient’s tumor as its own vaccine), and liver intracellular (using liver cells as medicine)
Through its mRNA therapeutics platform, it develops and produces human proteins, antibodies, and novel proteins, which help to prevent, treat and cure disease
Their vision and priorities:
Moderna believes that mRNA is the ‘software of life’
To deliver on the promise of mRNA science to create a new generation of transformative medicine for patients
Their priority is to protect as many people as possible around the globe. They recognize that vaccine availability is a problem in many parts of the world and they remain focused on ensuring that low-income countries have access to their vaccine.
In the next 12 months, they are preparing for multiple vaccine launches between 2023 - 2025
Things to know right now
New partnership announced
Moderna and the University of Toronto announce a new partnership ‘to ‘develop new tools to prevent and treat infectious diseases’.
New changes to the executive committee announced
James Mock is announced as the new CFO of Moderna following the retirement of David Meline
Juan Andres is appointed as President of and Jerh Collins is appointed as the new CTO and Qualities Officer
These new changes to the executive committee will take effect from 1 January 2023
Moderna sues Pfizer
Moderna sued Pfizer in both Massachusetts and Germany, accusing the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 Vaccine of violating the patent on Moderna’s mRNA vaccine technology
Moderna Award
They have just been named the ‘Top Employer for Science’ for the 8th year in a row
Moderna expands
Moderna announced plans to build a $180 million vaccine factory in Montreal, forming a 10-year partnership with the Canadian federal government to produce 100 million vaccine doses annually.
What does each business unit do?
Infectious Disease
This unit focuses on the discovery and development of vaccines as well as therapeutic and prophylactic approaches against infectious disease targets using Moderna mRNA technology.
Immuno - Oncology
This unit focusses on using the bodies immune system to identify and kill cancer cells in the same way the immune system identifies and targets infections.
Rare Diseases
This unit focuses on recognizing the impact of rare diseases on patients and their families, particularly when the disease lacks any effective treatment options.
Cardiovascular Disease
This unit focuses on research studies with AstraZeneca to evaluate the use of an mRNA therapeutic that can help in the fight against cardiovascular disease.
Autoimmune Disease
This unit focuses on developing several potential mRNA therapeutics that they believe have the potential to help millions of patients battling autoimmune diseases.
Personalized Cancer Vaccines
This unit focuses on creating individualized, mRNA-based personalized cancer vaccines to deliver one custom-tailored medicine to one patient at a time.
Their financial calendar
Q1: January-March - Earnings 4th May
Q2: April-June - Earnings 3rd August
Q3: July-September - Earnings 3rd November
Q4: September-December - Earnings 4th February
Next Earnings Report:
Around 4th February 2023
Positives from the last earnings report:
$13.6bn in product sales through the first 3 quarters of the year putting them in a strong financial position as they prepare for multiple product launches.
They have 48 programs currently running of which 35 are currently in active clinical trials.
Challenges from the last earnings report:
Total quarterly revenue ($3.4 bn)was down from last quarter ($5.0bn) due to a decline in sales of the Covid -19 vaccines
Vaccine accessibility is still a problem in many parts of the world