Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca Plc has sold its 7.7 per cent stake in Moderna Inc for more than USD 1 billion, stated a The Times. The shares of the US-based biotechnology company, Moderna, witnessed a rise in shares after it developed a vaccine for COVID-19.
The report added that it was unclear the period in which British-based AstraZeneca sold its holding in Moderna. AstraZeneca and Moderna did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Meanwhile, AstraZeneca has a partnership with Moderna on other disease treatments and could sell its AstraZeneca/Oxford University COVID-19 vaccine on a commercial basis in future if the virus becomes endemic, the report added.
Moderna said last week it was expecting sales of $18.4 billion from its coronavirus vaccine this year. Moderna and Pfizer Inc are the only drugmakers whose vaccines have been cleared for emergency use against COVID-19 in the United States so far.
In December 2020, Merck sold its stake in Moderna Inc., the biotechnology company, in the midst of developing a COVID-19 vaccine. Merck sold its direct equity investment in Moderna during the first half of the fourth quarter.
