Moderna lays out plan to slice research and development spending

Shares of Moderna tumbled early Thursday after the vaccine developer said it was cutting research and development spending and pushed back its time frame for breaking even.

The company also forecast a 2025 revenue range that fell below Wall Street expectations.

Moderna said it planned an approximately 20% reduction in expected research and development expenses for 2025 to 2028 from $20 billion to $16 billion. It expects a reduction of about $1.1 billion in annual spending starting in 2027 through cost cuts and by prioritizing its portfolio.

Moderna developed the Spikevax COVID-19 vaccine, and regulators approved this year its vaccine for RSV or respiratory syncytial virus. The company also has a combination flu/COVID vaccine and an RSV vaccine for high-risk younger adults that it expects to submit to regulators in 2024.

The company also said Thursday that it now expects to break even in 2028. It predicted last November that this would happen in 2026.

For 2025, Moderna said it expects revenue ranging from $2.5 billion to $3.5 billion.

Analysts forecast $3.87 billion, according to FactSet.

Shares of Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Moderna Inc. were down 12% to $69.61 before markets opened Thursday.

That price has already dropped 20% so far this year after starting 2024 around $100.