© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Syringes with needles are seen in entrance of a displayed Novavax emblem on this illustration taken, November 27, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
By Michael Erman
NEW YORK (Reuters) -COVID-19 vaccine maker Novavax (NASDAQ:) Inc on Tuesday raised doubts about its capability to stay in enterprise and introduced plans to slash spending as it really works to organize for a fall vaccination marketing campaign.
The corporate stated there may be important uncertainty round its 2023 income, funding from the U.S. authorities, and pending arbitration with world vaccine alliance GAVI. However its money stream forecast signifies it has ample capital to fund operations over the subsequent yr.
The corporate misplaced $182 million, or $2.28 per share, within the fourth quarter on weaker-than-expected gross sales of $357 million. Analysts had anticipated gross sales of $383 million, in accordance with Refinitiv information.
Novavax shares fell over 20% in after-the bell buying and selling.
“If we execute on our working plan, we’ll be in a really sturdy place not solely on the finish of this yr, however going into subsequent yr,” Novavax’s new Chief Govt John Jacobs, who joined the corporate in late January, stated in an interview. Novavax had $1.33 billion of money available on the finish of 2022.
Nevertheless, Jacobs cautioned that there are dangers within the close to time period to that working plan, together with the truth that protein-based vaccines like Novavax’s take longer to supply than their messenger RNA-based rivals.
Firms might want to change their vaccine every year to match circulating strains as required by regulatory companies, together with the U.S. Meals and Drug Administration.
“We do not know what the pressure choice is but from FDA. We do not know what world well being authorities might want from a regulatory standpoint on how the brand new vaccine must look,” Jacobs stated. “The earlier we all know that the extra readability we’ve on our path ahead.”
The CEO stated the corporate has been spending at a “scorching charge,” and plans to chop again, possible together with job cuts.
“We’re within the technique of assessing the worldwide footprint of Novavax, rationalizing our provide chain, rationalizing the portfolio and rationalizing the corporate construction and our infrastructure,” he stated.
Jacobs didn’t give a goal for a way deep spending or job cuts can be. Novavax has greater than 1,500 workers, in accordance with its web site.
Novavax is all choices that correctly worth its expertise, pipeline and manufacturing capabilities on three continents, from partnerships to licensing offers to “various kinds of offers that might be rather more important,” the CEO stated.
Novavax was based in 1986, however the COVID-19 vaccine is its first commercially accessible product. The rollout of Novavax’s shot was affected by manufacturing snags, regulatory delays and sluggish uptake.
As the corporate labored to develop the shot, its shares traded as excessive as $330, a greater than $20 billion market worth. They’ve since misplaced greater than 97% of their worth, buying and selling at round $9.30 a share.
Jacobs stated outdoors of the U.S., Novavax has $2 billion value of signed contracts with governments that the corporate intends to gather on. He stated the corporate was in ongoing discussions with these governments to gather on these offers by 2024.
Within the U.S., the place the Novavax vaccine was approved in July 2022, solely round 80,000 of its photographs have been administered. The corporate hopes to benefit from a shift away from authorities contracts into the business market that’s anticipated to occur this autumn.
Jacobs stated that whereas Novavax’s vaccine could take longer to fabricate than its rivals from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna (NASDAQ:), he believes FDA regulators desire a protein-based choice this fall for U.S. residents.
“They made it very clear that they see it as essential in america to have choices on the various kinds of vaccines,” he stated.
