HQ Team
May 10, 2023: Novavax, a COVID-19 vaccine maker, will lay off a quarter of its workforce and announced a global restructuring and cost reduction initiative as the sales of its vaccines fell amid a worldwide decline in the spread of the disease.
Net loss for the first quarter of 2023, which ended on March 31, was $294 million, compared to a net income of $203 million in the same period in 2022, according to a Nasdaq filing.
The job losses amount to about 400 from its 2,000-strong workforce.
Total revenue for the first quarter of 2023 was $81 million compared to $704 million in the same period in 2022. Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash were $637 million as of March 31, 2023, compared to $1.3 billion as of December 31, 2022.
During the first quarter of 2023 Novavax reduced its outstanding current liabilities by $541 million, including funding the maturity of the $325 million convertible debt in January 2023.
Cost of sales
According to the Nasdaq filing, the cost of sales for the first quarter of 2023 was $34 million, compared to $15 million in the same period in 2022. “This includes $20 million related to excess, obsolete, or expired inventory and losses on firm purchase commitments.”
The global restructuring and cost reduction plan is expected to reduce annual combined 2024 R&D and sales expenses by about 40% to 50% when compared to 2022.
The Maryland-based company forecast full-year 2023 total revenue guidance of between $1.4 and $1.6 billion.
“Today we outlined significant measures intended to reduce spending, extend our cash runway, and operate more efficiently,” said John C. Jacobs, President, and Chief Executive Officer, Novavax.
“We also made significant progress on our other key priorities, including our efforts to deliver an updated COVID vaccine for the fall season. And, today we announced positive Phase 2 data that we believe supports the further development of our combination COVID-influenza, standalone influenza, and high-dose COVID vaccines,” he said.
‘Difficult decision’
“Reducing our workforce has been a difficult decision, but we believe it was necessary to better align our infrastructure and scale to the endemic COVID opportunity,” continued Mr. Jacobs. “Though we still have substantial challenges ahead of us in 2023, we are encouraged by the progress we have made in the last quarter and are determined to continue executing our top priorities.”
Novavax remains focused on its priority of delivering an updated, competitive COVID vaccine consistent with public health recommendations for the 2023 fall vaccination season, according to the Nasdaq filing.
Talks were on with global regulators on the strain selection guidance and advancement of commercial preparedness for the fall of 2023.
The company has modified the US government agreement for up to 1.5 million additional doses of Novavax’s COVID vaccine for delivery in 2023, with initial delivery supplied in five-dose vials in the first quarter of 2023.
It has completed enrollment and is on track to receive topline results in mid-2023 for part 2 of the phase 3 strain change study, which is a regulatory prerequisite for updating the 2023-2024 vaccine composition.
Vaccine toleration
It may file US Biologics License Application in the second half of 2023.
Novavax announced positive phase 2 COVID-Influenza Combination (CIC) vaccine, standalone influenza, and high-dose COVID vaccine data, which evaluated the safety and immunogenicity of different formulations.
All three vaccine candidates were “well-tolerated, demonstrated a reassuring preliminary safety profile, and had reactogenicity comparable to authorized comparators.”
