Moderna improves forecast for 2022 sales from COVID-19 vaccine

People pose with syringe with needle in front of displayed Moderna logo

People pose with syringe with needle in front of displayed Moderna logo in this illustration taken, December 11, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic Acquire Licensing Rights

Jan 10 (Reuters) - Moderna Inc (MRNA.O) said on Monday it expected to record sales of about $18.5 billion in 2022 from contracts for its COVID-19 vaccine, and about $3.5 billion from potential additional purchases including booster candidates updated for variants.

The company in November said its sales could be in the range of $17 billion to $22 billion in 2022. read more

Moderna said it was in active discussions for additional COVID-19 vaccine contracts this year.

The company also said it was developing a booster vaccine candidate, called mRNA-1273.529, that targets the fast-spreading Omicron variant and expects it to advance into clinical trials in early 2022.

Booster doses of the company's current COVID-19 vaccine, mRNA-1273, increased neutralizing antibody levels against Omicron at both 50 microgram and 100 microgram dose levels, the drugmaker said.

Reporting by Manojna Maddipatla in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli

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