shares Novavax Vaccine makers closed down more than 20% on Wednesday report Fourth-quarter revenue and profit missed Wall Street expectations, and it said it expected full-year sales in 2024 to be flat or lower than last year.
Still, Novavax’s losses for the quarter narrowed from a year earlier, even as demand for the biotech’s Covid vaccine, its only marketable product, and other vaccines and treatments against the virus continues to plummet globally.
Novavax’s fourth-quarter report compared with Wall Street expectations, according to a survey of analysts by LSEG (formerly Refinitiv):
- Loss per share: $1.44 vs. expected loss of 45 cents
- income: $291.3 million vs. $322 million expected
The company reported a net loss of $178.4 million, or $1.44 per share, for the quarter. This compares with a net loss of $182.2 million, or $2.28 per share, in the year-earlier period.
Novavax’s fourth-quarter sales were $291.3 million, down from $357.4 million in the same period last year.
Novavax CEO John Jacobs told CNBC that the company’s revenue has been shifted from 2023 to 2024 due to the timing of some advance purchase agreements for COVID-19 vaccine doses. But Jacobs also said during an earnings call with investors on Wednesday that Novavax was “disappointed” with its performance in the U.S. coronavirus vaccine market last quarter.
Novavax Chief Operating Officer John Trizzino said on a conference call that several factors, such as the launch of Novavax’s updated COVID-19 vaccine last fall, affected the company’s ability to gain market share for the COVID-19 vaccine in the United States.
But he said factors “out of our control,” including a smaller-than-expected coronavirus market and an excess number of vaccines administered by retail pharmacies, led to Novavax’s performance being lower than expected.
Trizzino said the company will work to increase its market share this year, such as launching the next COVID-19 vaccination in early September, and streamline its customer engagement team to focus on retail pharmacies, which accounted for more than 95% of vaccinations last quarter. . Next season, Novavax also hopes to offer the vaccine in prefilled syringes, which would be more convenient than the current five-dose vials.
Novavax expects full-year 2024 revenue to be between $800 million and $1 billion. The forecast reflects revenue expected to be $500 million to $600 million from pre-order agreements and $300 million to $400 million from commercial market product sales, royalties and other revenue from the company’s “partner-related activities.” .
Analysts polled by London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) expected 2024 revenue of $969.6 million.
Novavax expects first-quarter revenue of $100 million, reflecting the tail end of the current COVID-19 vaccination season. The company had expected sales of $300 million in the period.
Novavax reiterates plans to cut more spending this year as global cost reduction plan It was launched last year.
The company plans to reduce its combined research and development and selling, general and administrative expenses to $700 million to $800 million in 2024.
Novavax cut those consolidated expenses to $1.21 billion last year. Jacobs noted that this was $150 million more than the company’s original spending target. In 2022, these charges will total $1.69 billion.
The company also reduced operating expenses by $1.1 billion, or 41%, in 2023 compared with 2022. The company also reduced its workforce by 30% compared to the first quarter of 2023.
The cuts will help Novavax focus on further developing a combination vaccine against COVID-19 and influenza, which is scheduled to be launched in 2026. The company expects to begin late-stage trials of the vaccine in the second half of this year.
Jacobs said the combined vaccine would open up a market for 120 million to 140 million doses per year. He added that the company’s data showed that most people who received separate doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and flu vaccine would instead opt for the combined shot.
The results come a year after the biotech company first expressed concerns about its ability to stay afloat. Novavax’s stock price fell more than 50% last year.
But the stock got a big boost last week after clearing what some analysts considered one of the company’s biggest uncertainties.
On Thursday, Novavax said it would resolve a dispute with global alliance for vaccines and immunizationis a non-governmental global vaccine organization, Cancel COVID-19 Vaccine Purchase Agreement. Novavax could pay the organization about $300 million to $400 million, but the total could be less if Gavi decides to order more vaccines from the company over the next five years.
Jacobs said if Novavax resolves some of the arbitration issues with its vaccine order, the company will be able to set a price for those doses.
“We can set this price, which allows us to control the economics of it,” he said, adding that “it would be a very advantageous way of reaching an agreement through doses that would help complete the distribution of the vaccine.” Mission “Make low-income countries more equitable.
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