Jim KellyNovavax is “actively exploring” to divest its manufacturing facility in the Czech Republic as the company continues to face dwindling demand for its vaccines, CFO Jim Kelly said.
Novavax initially picked up the site in Bohumil as a part of its $167 million acquisition of Praha Vaccines in May 2020, with the goal of producing over 1 billion doses of its Covid vaccine at the facility.
Yet, demand for its protein-subunit Covid vaccines has since plummeted, with Novavax again trimming its sales projections for 2024 to between $275 million and $375 million, compared with the $400 million to $600 million it previously forecasted in the first quarter.
Selling the site would “provide cash proceeds and reduction to our ongoing operating cost,” Kelly told investors during its earnings call on Thursday, according to an AlphaSense transcript.
John JacobsEven if demand for its Covid vaccine has declined, the vaccine maker pulled support from Sanofi, with the French pharma handing Novavax $500 million in May to co-commercialize its Covid vaccine and bring its clinical-stage Covid-flu vaccine to market.
To become a “lean and agile organization,” Novavax will also trim R&D spending, to between $700 million and $750 million in 2024, which would be down from the $1.2 billion it used last year.
“We are beginning to evolve from a company that is independently manufacturing, distributing and commercializing vaccines on a global scale, to a much more efficient and focused R&D model,” CEO John Jacobs said during the earnings call.