Biotech companies are getting closer to find the eagerly awaited COVID-19 vaccine

The biotech company Moderna is getting closer to finding the COVID-19 vaccine. The CEO of the company, Stéphane Bancel, has announced that Moderna has received “deposits of about $400 million for potential deliveries of the coronavirus drug until July 31st. In the same vein, the U.S. company has reported that it is committed to selling the COVID-19 vaccine at a “pandemic price” of $32 to $37 per dose. “We are working with governments around the world to ensure that the vaccine is accessible regardless of ability to pay,” Bancel said. 

The company explained that the price of the drug will depend on the volume requested by each country and will be lower for those requesting large volumes of doses. This amount is above the $19.5 announced by Pfizer for the vaccine together with the German company Biontech. Both their trial and Moderna’s are already at the beginning of phase 3 to certify the reliability and safety of the vaccine. 

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The company’s turnover reached $74.7 million, while investment in innovation and development was $267 million

Moderna registered losses of $240 million in the first half of 2020, which means a 10% decrease in its red numbers compared to the first half of 2019, according to the company. In this period, the laboratory’s turnover reached $74.7 million, 157% more than in the first half of the previous year. 

The company’s investment in innovation and development was $267 million in the first half of the year, 3.2% more than in the same period in 2019. In the second quarter, between April and June, the U.S. company recorded losses of $117.7 million, 13.5% less than the same period last year. The biotech company announced at the end of July that two doses of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate had produced a “robust immune response”. In addition, the drug also protects against virus infection in the upper and lower respiratory tract in primates.

Bayer recorded a loss of $9.55 million (€8.06 million) in the first half of the year

The chemical and pharmaceutical group has recorded these losses because of the costs of the out-of-court settlements with Monsanto. The German company reached an out-of-court settlement with the plaintiffs of the US company’s RoundUp herbicide for which it will have to pay $12.7 million (€10.7 million). 

The losses of the Leverkusen-based company in the first half of 2020 contrast with the same period of the previous year, when the company made a net profit of $1.94 billion (€1.64 billion). In turn, the gross operating profit (Ebitda) before atypicals in the first half was $8.61 million (€7.27 million), 8.4% more than in the same period in 2019. 

Bayer recorded sales of $27.1 billion (€22.9 billion) in the first half, 0.3% lower than in the same period of the previous year. Sales in the agricultural business rose by 3.6% to $13.8 million (€11.63 million), while the pharmaceutical business unit posted a 2.7% decline in sales to $10.1 million (€8.54 million). The company’s non-prescription drug business posted a decline of 8.4% to $3.08 billion (€2.6 billion). The chemical and pharmaceutical group expects to achieve a turnover of between $50.9 and $52.1 billion (€43 and €44 billion) in 2020, a slightly lower forecast than the company had before the pandemic.

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