(Reuters) -Moderna Inc said on Friday it was planning to hire about 2,000 employees globally by 2023-end and set up new offices on the U.S. West Coast, as it aims to scale up development of new products amid declining COVID vaccine sales.
The COVID vaccine maker said it will open new offices in California and Seattle, adding that its Genomics unit will expand to south San Francisco.
The latest move comes at a time when Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) has been working on developing vaccines for skin cancer, flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) using its mRNA technology, which if approved would significantly boost the biotech company that currently relies heavily on its COVID-19 shot.
Last month, Moderna forecast rising costs for 2023 and a decline in COVID vaccine sales, raising concerns that the company could post a loss this year.
The firm had about 3,900 full-time employees as of Dec. 31, according to a regulatory filing.Shares of the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company were up more than 2% at $140.22 in afternoon trade.