Moderna Inc on Thursday raised its annual forecast for Covid-19 vaccine sales to $8 billion, citing expectations of a boost in the fall season as the company’s new updated shots move to a private market from government contracts. The company’s shares rose 6% in premarket trading, the highest since May.
The shift to a private market could impact U.S. insurers and uninsured adults who are expected to pay more for the shot once the federal program ends and current stockpiles run low. However, the White House Covid response coordinator said the end of the public health emergency does not mean people will suddenly be unable to get the shots because they will be available through their doctors and at private vaccination centers.
Both Moderna and Pfizer Inc have developed updated versions of their existing Covid-19 vaccines to target a single variant of the virus known as XBB.1.5, found in most recent Covid cases. The companies are pinning their hopes on the ability of the updated vaccines to turn around a slump in sales from booming demand during the pandemic’s peak.
To that end, the companies plan to offer both versions of their vaccines in the fall. The new updates are designed to be administered in the same manner as their predecessors, and a single shot will protect against both XBB.1.5 and a variety of other circulating XBB variants.
The updated shots will also be more cost-effective than the earlier ones because the companies will not have to spend money adjusting production lines to produce a different version for each virus variation. In the past, when multiple strains of the virus swept through the country, some vaccine manufacturers were forced to develop multiple versions of their shots, leading to delays in making them available.
Moderna’s updated shot, Spikevax, was approved for use this summer and will be sold by healthcare providers through a network of distribution sites. The company has a contract with the National Vaccine Information Center to sell the vaccine in the United States, and it expects to sign agreements in other countries this year.