Moderna says potential flu vaccine wants extra research

Moderna shares slipped Tuesday morning after the COVID-19 vaccine developer mentioned its potential flu vaccine wants extra research in a late-stage scientific trial.

The firm mentioned an impartial information and security monitory board discovered that the potential vaccine “did not meet the statistical threshold necessary to declare early success” within the research.

The board advisable that the trial ought to proceed.

Moderna is growing the vaccine, labeled mRNA-1010, to protect towards seasonal flu. It is testing the vaccine in two, late-stage research within the Southern and Northern hemispheres.

The vaccine developer mentioned Tuesday it expects to launch six vaccines within the subsequent few years.

The firm’s COVID-19 vaccine, Spikevax, has been its primary income generator to date. It introduced in additional than $18 billion in gross sales final yr.

Moderna is also growing potential vaccines for respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, and the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS.

Shares of Moderna Inc., primarily based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, fell practically 5% to $152.50 earlier than markets opened Tuesday.