Moderna Inc. (NASDAQ: MRNA), a leading mRNA technology company based in the U.S., has announced a strategic realignment during its investor R&D day, reflecting a broader trend among multinational corporations (MNCs) to streamline operations. The company has committed to a program that includes cost-cutting measures and a reprioritization of its development pipeline, leading to the discontinuation of five pipeline candidates.
In an effort to reduce R&D spending by approximately USD 1.1 billion, Moderna is planning to decrease its expenditure from USD 4.8 billion in 2024 to a projected range of USD 3.6-3.8 billion by 2027. The company is set to focus on respiratory products, anticipating profitability in this segment from 2024. This includes the RSV vaccine mRESVIA, which became Moderna’s second commercial product following the COVID-19 vaccine, receiving approval in the U.S. in March and in the EU in August.
Moderna has indicated that it “aims to complete the majority of its respiratory investments by 2026,” signaling a strategic shift. Concurrently, the company will allocate increased R&D investments to oncology while managing the pace of its investments in latent and other vaccines and rare disease therapeutics.
The decision to discontinue five pipeline candidates is part of this strategic realignment. These include mRNA-1287 for endemic human coronavirus (HCoV), which will not advance beyond preclinical testing; mRNA-1345 for RSV seronegative infants under 2 years old, ending at the Phase I stage; mRNA-5671 targeting KRAS; mRNA-2752, a triple-targeted candidate for OX40L/IL-23/IL-36-gamma; and mRNA-0184 targeting relaxin, with the latter three being halted due to suboptimal early clinical data. – Flcube.com
