Cambridge, Feb 23 (AP) Moderna's fourth-quarter profit tumbled 70per cent as COVID-19 vaccine sales fell and the drugmaker caught up on a royalty payment.

Moderna said Thursday that its cost of sales jumped nearly a billion dollars to USD 1.9 billion in the final quarter of 2022. That included a USD 400 million payment to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases tied to a new license agreement started in December.

Also Read | Exclusive: Blackstone Set to Raise as Much as $10 Billion for Tactical Opportunities – Latest Tweet by Reuters.

The drugmaker's profit fell to USD 1.46 billion, or USD 3.61 per share.

Total revenue dropped 29 per cent t o USD 5.08 billion.

Also Read | India Should Urge Restraint and Encourage Russia, US To Return to Negotiations, Say Experts.

Analysts expected earnings of USD 4.60 per share on USD 5.02 billion in revenue, according to FactSet.

Moderna's Spikevax is the company's main source of revenue, outside of grants and money from collaborations.

The company had said last month that it recorded USD 18.4 billion in sales from its COVID-19 vaccine last year, and it expects about USD 5 billion in 2023.

Shares of Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Moderna Inc. slipped 1 per cent to USD 156 in premarket trading. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)