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iStock, Veronique D The company reported $200 million in net losses for the third quarter, but an aggressive and highly successful cost-cutting campaign is helping to stem the downward trend. “The net loss for the quarter was $200 million,” Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel intoned gravely to lead off the company’s third quarter earnings call Thursday morning. But it was not all bad news for the embattled mRNA vaccine manufacturer. While the company posted losses for the third straight quarter this year, they have shrunk each period, from $1 billion in the first, to $800 million in the second, to one quarter of that for the three months ending in September. The company was last in the black in the third quarter of 2024, when it made $13 million, though it posted losses in the two quarters before that as well. Executives on the call reiterated their pledge for the company to achieve profitability. Between taking money in and spending less, a good amount of closing that gap is coming from a sweeping cost reduction plan. “I’m pleased to announce that continued cost reduction efforts across the company in the third quarter of 2025 led to a 34% reduction” in expenditures in research and development, sales and other departments, Bancel noted. The company’s goal was to knock operating expenses from $7.2 billion in 2024 to $6.4 billion in 2025. On the call, CFO Jamey Mock announced that the cost reduction plan is exceeding expectations. “I’m happy to report that we are now on track to beat our 2025 cost plan by over $1 billion on a cap basis,” Mock said, “and by $900 million on a cash cost basis, both at the midpoint of our projection.” Moderna chalked up its struggles to a number of macro factors but first and foremost, the decrease in COVID-19 vaccination rates in the U.S.—its largest market. “Ultimately, the end measure is vaccinations in the U.S. That’s just shots in arms,” Mock said. “If you look at the season to date through October 24, shots in arms are down in the U.S. 30%,” he added. Moderna has even more levers to pull on cost reductions, according to President Stephen Hoge. And on the revenue side, the company is considering expansion into other markets, particularly Europe, partnerships with other companies, and its mix of other products besides the COVID-19 vaccines. The executives on the call had little to say on mRESVIA, the company’s RSV vaccine, which was approved in the U.S. in 2024, winning a label expansion earlier this year. The shot made $2 million in the third quarter. Hoge highlighted the company’s mRNA-based CMV vaccine, mRNA-1647, which two weeks ago failed to hit its primary endpoint in a pivotal Phase III trial. “We still believe that there’s an opportunity for mRNA-1647,” he said, noting that despite being unable to prevent CMV infection in young women in the trial, the molecule could still find use in other settings, like preventing infections in patients undergoing bone marrow transplants. Moderna ended the quarter with $6.6 billion in cash and investments in the bank, according to the company’s report. Revenue for the quarter was $1 billion, and Moderna narrowed its 2025 projected revenue range to between $1.6 and $2 billion.

A vaccine Moderna has long been developing for the worlds most common congenital infection has failed a Phase 3 trial.The biotechnology company said late Wednesday that the shot, dubbed mRNA-1647, missed its main goal in a late-stage trial against cytomegalovirus, or CMV. The vaccine was only between 6% to 23% effective at preventing infections in the study, which enrolled nearly 7,500 women between 16 and 40 years of age. Those efficacy numbers were well below Modernas target, leading the company to stop further testing of the vaccine against CMV. Only a Phase 2 study in bone marrow transplant patients will continue.“Today's announcement is disappointing for families and healthcare professionals who have been eagerly awaiting a CMV vaccine,“ Moderna CEO Stphane Bancel said in the statement.Bancel added that the majority of the data from the trial are still forthcoming, and will be shared with the scientific community so our learnings can contribute to the continued pursuit of a CMV vaccine.Though it doesnt trigger symptoms for most people, CMV can cause serious health problems for those with weakened immune systems. Its also a leading cause of birth defects, as babies born with it can have developmental delays and other long-term issues like hearing loss.There are no vaccines available to prevent CMV infections. Moderna has long sought to change that with mRNA-1647 and, before its ascent to stardom during the pandemic, envisioned it as a future blockbuster. Some analysts projected $3 billion in peak annual sales for mRNA-1647, if it were to prove successful in a late-stage trial.A positive outcome became more critical for Moderna over the last couple years. The companys stock price has plummeted amid declining COVID-19 vaccine sales and revised financial forecasts that have eroded confidence in its management team and spurred a restructuring. Uptake of a second shot for respiratory syncytial virus has been slow. The change in leadership at U.S. public health agencies has hurt, too, leading to narrower clearances for COVID shots and skepticism of the messenger RNA technology Moderna is known for.Investor optimism surrounding the CMV program had diminished in recent months, according to Leerink Partners analyst Mani Foroohar. The vaccine didnt clear an early bar for declaring study success in January, and afterwards, Moderna updated its statistical analysis plan, suggesting the odds of success were dwindling, Foroohar wrote in August.Like most investors, we saw CMV failure [as] a matter of when, not if, Foroohar added in a Wednesday client note.Despite the study setback, Moderna doesnt expect any impact to its current financial forecasts or ability to break even in 2028. Still, it faces greater pressure to turn around slowing respiratory vaccine sales until its oncology portfolio can become a meaningful contributor, Foroohar wrote. '