• Moderna's cost-cutting drives better-than-expected results

• Combination COVID and flu shot approval not expected until 2026

• Tariffs have minimal impact on Moderna's U.S.-manufactured drugs

May 1 (Reuters) - Moderna MRNA.O on Thursday reported first-quarter profit and sales that beat Wall Street estimates, helped by the company's cost-cutting efforts following waning post-pandemic demand for its COVID-19 vaccine.

The U.S. vaccine maker also said it did not expect to get regulator approval for its combination shot to protect against both COVID-19 and influenza until 2026, after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it required late-stage data demonstrating the shot's efficacy against the flu.

Moderna previously said it hoped to launch the vaccine for the autumn respiratory disease season in 2025 or 2026.

The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based drugmaker said it plans to cut its adjusted operating costs by as much as $1.7 billion by 2027 compared to its estimate for this year. It expects operating costs for 2027 to be between $4.7 billion and $5 billion, the company said.

Finance chief James Mock said in an interview Moderna expects those costs to fall as it completes several late-stage vaccine trials. Moderna posted an adjusted loss of $2.52 per share for the quarter, beating analysts' estimates of a $3.14 per share loss, according to LSEG data. Mock said the smaller-than-expected loss was driven "all by cost cutting."

The company brought in $108 million in quarterly revenue, down 35% on last year but coming in slightly ahead of analysts expectations of $106.2 million, according to LSEG data.

The company's COVID shot Spikevax generated $84 million, while $2 million came from sales of mRESVIA, its RSV vaccine. Analysts had expected sales of $75.67 million and $3.3 million respectively for Spikevax and mRESVIA.

The drugmaker has been banking on revenue from newer mRNA shots to make up for falling sales of its COVID vaccine and less-than-expected uptake of its respiratory syncytial virus vaccine, which sent shares down nearly 60% last year.

The Trump administration has this year raised concerns about the prospects for new vaccines, following its decision to delay the regulatory approval of Novavax's NVAX.O rival COVID-19 vaccine. The FDA had set a goal date of April 1 for the decision and missed that deadline.

Drugmakers have also been grappling with the prospect of sector-specific tariffs, following the Trump government's decision to launch a probe into pharmaceutical imports that sets the stage for levies on the industry.

Mock said the tariff policies in place today will have a "very immaterial" impact on Moderna, as all of the company's drug substance for the United States is made in Massachusetts.

Moderna reiterated its full-year 2025 product sales forecast of $1.5 billion to $2.5 billion, with most expected in the second half of the year. The company had previously said it expected $200 million of its predicted revenue for 2025 to come in during the first half of the year.