Novavax cuts sales forecast as COVID-19 vaccine sales slow

Novavax Inc on Monday cut its full-year revenue forecast after the company sold fewer doses of its COVID-19 vaccine in the second quarter.

The company said it sold 3 million doses of the vaccine, recording $55 million in product sales in the quarter. This compares with $586 million in COVID-19 vaccine sales in the first quarter.

Novavax said it now expects 2022 total revenue in the range of $2 billion to $2.3 billion, compared with its prior forecast of $4 billion to $5 billion.

Novavax said it expects to file for authorization of its COVID-19 vaccine tailored to the Omicron variant to US health regulators in the fourth quarter of this year.

Novavax has been developing an Omicron-tailored vaccine to protect against the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants and had previously said it expects to provide the shot in the fourth quarter.

The company’s protein-based COVID-19 vaccine received authorization in the United States for use among adults in July.

Health officials hope that the shot’s more traditional technology would convince those skeptical of messenger RNA technology from Pfizer and Moderna to get vaccinated.

However, Novavax has faced manufacturing hurdles and regulatory delays, and the vaccine’s uptake in key markets such as Europe has been sluggish.