Moderna Inc., the U.S. biotech that’s among the few companies in the late stages of developing a COVID vaccine, received US$1.1 billion in customer deposits for the shots during the third quarter.

Customer deposits for the supply of Moderna’s experimental COVID vaccine were recorded as as deferred revenue.

Revenue was US$157.9 million for the quarter, the company said. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg had estimated revenue of US$80.6 million.

Key Insights

• Moderna is only slightly behind Pfizer Inc. and its partner BioNTech SE in the race for a COVID vaccine and has completed enrollment its 30,000-patient trial.
• Moderna investors are watching closely for data from Pfizer, which is expected within weeks. The two shots use similar technology, called messenger RNA, to induce cells to make the viral proteins that trigger an immune response to the virus.
• Investors may also have questions about the progress of Moderna’s trial as the initial analysis of Pfizer’s appears to be coming more slowly than expected, possibly because not enough volunteers have been infected.

Market Reaction

Moderna shares rose 2.4 per cent in trading before U.S. markets opened. They have more than tripled this year