Moderna has announced plans to take a “more selective and paced” approach to its research and development investment. Through portfolio prioritization and cost efficiencies, the company aims to reduce annual research and development expenses by approximately $1.1 billion starting in 2027.
 
The company aims to complete most of its respiratory investments by 2026. Meanwhile, it’s increasing research and development investments in oncology, and pacing its investments in latent and other vaccines and in rare disease therapeutics.
 
“Moderna now has five respiratory vaccines with positive Phase 3 results and expects to submit three for approval this year. In addition, we have five non-respiratory products in pivotal studies across cancer, rare diseases and latent vaccines with potential for approval by 2027. Our demonstrated probability of success in R&D has been higher than industry standards at every stage of development,” said Stéphane Bancel, CEO of Moderna. “The size of our late-stage pipeline combined with the challenge of launching products means we must now focus on delivering these 10 products to patients, slow down the pace of new R&D investment, and build our commercial business.”

Updated R&D Expenses

The company is updating its projected 2024 research and development expenses to approximately $4.8 billion. It is also reducing its expected research and development investment for 2025-2028 by approximately 20%, from $20 billion for the period to $16 billion through prioritization.
 
Moderna is also discontinuing five early-stage projects, including the mRNA-1345 respiratory syncytial virus vaccine for infants under two years old, and the mRNA-5671 KRAS antigen-specific cancer vaccine for various solid tumors.
 
During this time, Moderna will expand its commercial portfolio into oncology, rare diseases, and first-in-class non-respiratory vaccines. The company expects this strategy to yield 10 product approvals over the next three years.
 
This news comes after Moderna’s full-year sales for 2023 dropped 64% compared to the previous year, mainly due to a decline in COVID-19 vaccine sales. The company has not fared much better so far in 2024.