Novavax posts quarterly profit on COVID vaccine sales (updated)

SK Bioscience Co

08/08/2023 13:18

(Adds details on forecast and background throughout)
       Aug 8 (Reuters) - Novavax  NVAX.O  reported a
second-quarter profit on Tuesday, helped by strong revenue from
its COVID-19 vaccines, but still trimmed its full-year forecast
for sales of the shot.
        The biotech company also entered into a stock purchase
agreement with SK Bioscience Co  302440.KS , under which Novavax
will issue 6.5 million shares to the South Korean company at $13
per share.
  
        Shares of Novavax were up 19% at $8.95 in premarket
trading.
  
    The vaccine maker posted net income of $58 million, or $0.58
per share, for the quarter, compared with a net loss of $510
million, or $6.53 a share, a year earlier.
    The company reported revenue of $424 million, compared with
analysts' estimates of $240 million, according to Refinitiv IBES
data.
    It cut its sales forecast for its COVID-19 vaccines on 
lower revenue than it previously expected from overseas purchase
contracts for the COVID shot that it committed to ship this
year.
        The company now expects between $1.3 billion and $1.5
billion in COVID-19 vaccine sales and grants this year, compared
with its earlier forecast of $1.4 billion to $1.6 billion.
    The company is counting on selling an update version of its
shot in the fall season, especially in the United States.
    The company last month said it had developed an updated
vaccine candidate targeting the XBB.1.5 coronavirus variant, and
is manufacturing at commercial scale with the intent to meet the
U.S. government's timeline for regulatory action in September.
    Novavax's stock has lost around 95% of its value since last
year as the company grappled with weak demand for its COVID-19
vaccines after being a late entrant in a market already
dominated by the likes of Pfizer-BioNTech  PFE.N   22UAy.DE ,
Moderna  MRNA.O  and AstraZeneca  AZN.L .

 (Reporting by Leroy Leo in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H K,
Shounak Dasgupta and Maju Samuel)
 ((Leroy.Dsouza@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: https://twitter.com/LeroyLeo7))