Moderna plans to lay off 10% of workforce to cut costs

In this file photo dated Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021, three vials of the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine are pictured in a new coronavirus vaccination centre in Berlin, Germany. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn, File)

Moderna said on Thursday it would trim roughly 10 per cent of its global workforce and have fewer than 5,000 employees by the end of the year, as the biotech accelerates its cost-cutting efforts amid declining sales of COVID-19 vaccines.

The move, announced in an internal memo by CEO Stephane Bancel, is part of the company’s previous plan to cut operating expenses by about US$1.5 billion by 2027.

“We’ve made significant progress by scaling down R&D as respiratory trials conclude, renegotiating supplier agreements, and reducing manufacturing costs,” Bancel said in the memo.

• Latest updates on company news here

Moderna had said earlier this year it expects operating costs to be between US$4.7 billion and US$5 billion for 2027.

The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotech has been banking on revenue from newer mRNA shots, including its experimental COVID-flu combination vaccine, to make up for falling sales of its COVID-19 shot and less-than-expected uptake of its respiratory syncytial virus vaccine.

But investor concerns about the prospects of new shots and the changes in vaccine policy under U.S. Health Secretary and vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have led to a more than 20 per cent decline in Moderna’s shares this year.

The stock, which has lost more than 90 per cent of its value since the pandemic-era highs, was trading about four per cent down on Thursday.

• Latest updates on investing here

Moderna had said in May it did not expect regulatory approval for its combination shot until 2026, since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration asked for late-stage data showing the vaccine’s efficacy against the flu.

The company had previously hoped to launch the vaccine for the autumn respiratory disease season in 2025 or 2026.

Bancel in the memo reiterated the company’s target to have eight more approvals for its products in the next three years.

---

Reporting by Bhanvi Satija in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar