Biotech firm Moderna said on Wednesday that it tripled sales of its COVID-19 vaccine during the first three months of 2022 and smashed most analysts' expectations with more than $6 billion in revenue.

The company, which has one of three coronavirus vaccines approved for use in the United States, announced the figures in its first-quarter earnings report. Total revenue for the quarter was $6.1 billion, it said.

Moderna said that net income for the quarter totaled $3.66 billion -- which is three times the amount reported in the initial quarter of 2021.

The company noted that it sold $5.9 billion worth of its COVID-19 vaccine, now known as Spikevax, in the first three months of 2022.

Most analysts expected Moderna's report to show $4.6 billion in total revenue -- underestimating the actual figure by about $1.5 billion.

The company's report also noted a first-quarter profit of $8.58 per share, which is far more than experts predicted.

Combined, Moderna and Pfizer sold about $19 billion worth of their coronavirus vaccines during the first quarter of 2022. Both figures shattered Wall Street expectations. File Photo by Debbie Hill/UPI

Moderna's was the second COVID-19 vaccine to receive emergency authorization in the United States in December 2020, after Pfizer's, and the vaccine accounts for the lion's share of the company's income.

The pharma giant said in its report Wednesday that it expects four more products to enter Phase 3 testing by the start of July -- an Omicron-specific booster and three non-coronavirus vaccines.

"We also look forward to advancing our therapeutic programs ... on our rare genetic disease programs for propionic acidemia and methylmalonic acidemia, and on our personalized cancer vaccine program this year," Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said in a statement.

Moderna's report came a day after competitor Pfizer announced first-quarter revenue of almost $26 billion, which included close to $15 billion in sales of its COVID-19 vaccine and antiviral treatment Paxlovid.

Johnson & Johnson, which produces the only other U.S.-authorized COVID-19 vaccine, said last week that it earned revenue of $23.4 billion and sold $457 million worth of its coronavirus vaccine in the first quarter.

All told, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna and Pfizer combined to sell almost $20 billion worth of their coronavirus vaccines during the first three months of this year.

Copyright 2022 United Press International, Inc. (UPI). Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent., source US Top News