Why Is Moderna Stock Trading Higher Today?

Moderna Inc MRNA announced its intentions to launch up to 15 new products and advance up to 50 mRNA medicines into clinical trials over the next five years. Up to four of those launches could come by 2025.

The company announced several updates across its pipeline, most notably, its experimental influenza vaccine, mRNA-1010, met its primary endpoints in a Phase 3 trial.

Moderna maintains that sales of its respiratory vaccines could range between $8 billion and $15 billion in 2027, with another $10 billion to $15 billion from annual sales of cancer, rare disease, and latent disease medicines it will launch by 2028.

Moderna plans to invest $25 billion in Research and development from 2024 through 2028.

Moderna has finished enrolling patients in multiple clinical studies that combine its flu vaccine with its Covid or RSV vaccines, or both. The company intends to have a combination vaccine available as early as 2025.

In the cancer franchise, with its partner Merck & Co Inc MRK, the company plans to begin a second Phase 3 trial of mRNA-4157, its individualized neoantigen therapy, in combination with Keytruda, for non-small cell lung cancer later this year.

Updated efficacy follow-up from the ongoing Phase 2 study in adjuvant melanoma is expected in Q4.

For rare disease therapies, Moderna offered an early peek at a Phase 1/2 study of its therapy for methylmalonic acidemia. 

Interim results demonstrated encouraging initial pharmacodynamic data, with dose-dependent reductions in methylmalonic acid in Cohorts 2 and 3. Early results suggest potential decreases in annualized metabolic decompensation events, frequency, and MMA-related hospitalizations compared to pre-treatment.

Additionally, the company continues to expect 2023 COVID-19 sales of $6 billion to $8 billion, dependent on U.S. vaccination rates. 

Price Action: MRNA shares are up 7.26% at $112.88 during the premarket session on the last check Wednesday.