(Portal) – Novavax Inc on Tuesday announced plans to cut 25% of its workforce and unveiled promising data for its COVID-influenza combination vaccine and two other vaccines, raising hopes of a recovery for the ailing biotech.
Shares of Novavax surged nearly 9% pre-IPO when the company also released its 2023 revenue guidance, after earlier hinting at significant uncertainty about its future.
According to five analysts polled by Refinitiv, the company now forecasts total annual sales of between $1.4 billion and $1.6 billion, compared to market estimates of $831.6 million.
Novavax’s coronavirus vaccine is the only marketed product after 35 years in business, and the company is now hoping that its cost controls and a successful trial for its COVID/flu combination vaccine candidate will help it stay afloat.
Data from a mid-stage study in adults aged 50 to 80 showed that the combination vaccine elicited an immune response comparable to its protein-based COVID vaccine and previously approved influenza vaccines.
Global regulators expect COVID vaccination campaigns to be conducted once a year, similar to annual flu shots.
All three of Novavax’s vaccine candidates — the COVID/flu combination vaccine, a standalone flu vaccine, and a higher dose of the COVID vaccine — were all safe and well-tolerated in the study, the company said.
The layoffs, part of Novavax’s ongoing cost-cutting efforts, would mean about 498 jobs from the 1,992 full-time employees it had as of Feb. 21, according to the company’s latest regulatory filings.
The biotech expects its cost-cutting plans to help reduce its annual research and commercial spending by 20% to 25% year over year.
The company’s cash and cash equivalents decreased to $637 million at the end of the quarter from $1.3 billion at December 31.
Novavax also posted a net loss of $3.41 per share in the first quarter, compared to estimates of $3.46.
(Reporting by Bhanvi Satija and Raghav Mahobe in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)