Moderna rakes in surprise profits ahead of 400% vaccine price hike

Things are looking rosy for Moderna, as it reported unexpected first-quarter profits Thursday. But the company is not wavering in its plans to dramatically hike the price of its COVID-19 vaccines.

Further Reading

The company forecasts $5 billion in COVID vaccine sales for this year.

The plump profits haven't changed the company's plans for its COVID-19 vaccines. In an earnings call Thursday, Moderna Chief Commercial Officer Arpa Garay confirmed that the company is still proceeding with the 400 percent increase as the vaccines move from federal distribution to the commercial market later this year.

"In terms of pricing across the US market, we do anticipate our list price--when we have our updated vaccines--to be in the range of $110 to $130," Garay said.

In March, Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel unabashedly defended the price hike to lawmakers in the face of biting criticism. Senators in the Congressional hearing emphasized that Moderna developed the vaccine in collaboration with government scientists at the National Institutes of Health, and the federal government spent roughly $10 billion to support clinical development and speed production of the shots in the early days of the pandemic.

Further Reading

According to a report from The Washington Post last week, Bancel has profited handsomely from the pandemic, which made him a billionaire. Last year, Moderna increased Bancel's salary by 50 percent to $1.5 million and increased his target cash bonus. He also exercised stock options worth nearly $393 million.

Moderna's pay and governance, in general, has raised eyebrows among financial analysts, the Post notes. Moderna board members' pay ranks in the top 25 percent of directors at America's top 500 largest publicly traded companies, with a member's average pay last year set at $475,000. That's well above rival pharmaceutical giants, including Pfizer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Merck.