A statement from U.S. vaccine manufacturer Moderna led to a significant drop in its stock price on the NASDAQ on Thursday. The stock fell by 12.36 percent and closed at $69.68. The trigger was the company's announcement to cut its research spending and to assess its business development more pessimistically than previously expected.

Moderna announced that research and development spending will be reduced by 20 percent to a total of $16 billion between 2025 and 2028. Previously, $20 billion was allocated for this purpose. For the year 2024, the company plans to invest approximately $4.8 billion in research. As part of these cost-cutting measures, the development of some drugs will be halted or suspended to reduce costs.

The company further stated that it aims to reach the operational break-even point by 2028. Until then, there should be sufficient cash available to finance the plans without additional equity.

Sure, here's the translation of the heading to English:

"Simultaneously, Moderna aims to focus on the approval of ten products by 2027. One emphasis is on a next-generation COVID-19 vaccine, which is expected to be submitted for approval later this year. A combination flu/COVID vaccine is also in the pipeline.

With regard to the revenue forecast, Moderna was also cautious. For the coming year, the company expects revenues between 2.5 and 3.5 billion US dollars. For 2023, a revenue of 3.0 to 3.5 billion US dollars is expected, which would represent the lowest value since 2020. This puts the company's original growth strategy, which had envisioned a return to increasing revenues starting next year, far out of reach.