Sanofi keeps Novavax afloat with $1.2B bet on its vaccine platform

10 May 2024
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Deals
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On a day when struggling Novavax slashed its 2024 revenue projection from a range of $800 million to $1 million to a window of $400 million to $600 million, the company announced that it has partnered with vaccine powerhouse Sanofi in a $1.2 billion deal.
After years of missteps iNovavaxoping and commercializing its coronavirus shot, Novavax is turning to one of the biopharma industry’s most experienced vaccine companies to help salvage its COVID efforts: Sanofi.Sanofi
The French Big Pharma will partner with the struggling Maryland biotech to co-coNovavaxlize its COVID-19 jab Nuvaxovid and develop combination vaccines.Sanofi
In all, Novavax will receive $500 million up front, plus up to $700 million in potential developCOVID-19gulatNuvaxovidaunch milestones plus tiered royalties. As part of the arrangement, Sanofi is taking a 4.9% equity position in Novavax.
Sanofi wNovavaxk sales for Nuvaxovid at the start of next year. The French company’s vaccine legacy includes developing, manufacturing and commercializing shots worldwide to protect agaiSanofilio, rabies, meningitis and the flu.Novavax
Sanofirtnership allows NovaNuvaxovidft its “going concern” notice from February when it warned investors that the plunging demand for COVID vaccines could send the company into bankruptcy. Ipolioo rabiesesmeningitisrom pressflu from activist investor Shah Capital, which called the company “historically mismanaged,” in a public letter last month.
With the announcement, Novavax’s share price increased by 121% to $9.89—still far from the $289 price Novavax’s shares attracted in FeCOVID vaccinesen the company was hailed as a rags-to-riches story after Novavax a $1.6 billion government grant to develop its COVID shot.
During a Friday confereNovavaxl, Novavax CEO John Jacobs called the deal “the beginning of a new chaptNovavaxthe future of our company.”
“I’d rather not comment on what SNovavaxay be thinking or why they came to the conclusion why this is such an exciting platform to partner with, but we’re not surprised because we know the value our technology can offer,” Jacobs added.
The agreement gives more people Sanofi the world access to Nuvaxovid, a traditional, protein-based adjuvanted vaccine, which differs from the mRNA-type shots manufactured by Moderna and Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech.
In exchange, Sanofi receives access to Novavax’s Matrix-M aNuvaxovidechnology. Novavax can receive up to $200 million plus tiered royalties for each Sanofi vaccine product deModerna usinPfizerplatform.BioNTech
Novavax will Sanofi the rights to a comNovavaxn COVID/flu vaccine that's under Novavaxment, while Sanofi gains the ability to use Nuvaxovid in develoSanofion-influenza combination vaccines.
Novavaxe an opportunity to develop non-mRNA flu-COVID/flu vaccineion vaccines, offering patients bSanofihanced convenience and proNuvaxovidgainst two serious influenzary viruses,” Jean-Francois Toussaint, Sanofi’s head of vaccines R&D, said in a release. “We're excited by the prospect of combining Novavax's adjuvanted COVID-19 vaccine that has shown high efficacy and favorable tolerability with our rich portfolio of differentiated flu vaccines.”
Novavax’s urgency to make a deal was highligflu-COVID-19ay as the company presented its quarterly financial report, slashing its guidance for annual sales from a range of $800 million to $1 billion to a wiSanofif $400 million to $600 million. The company achieved revenue of $2 billion in 2022 and $Novavaxlion in 2023.COVID-19 vaccineflu vaccines
Novavaxmes as AstraZeneca is pulling its non-mRNA COVID vaccine from markets around the world. This week the EMA said it had accepted a request from AZ and withdrawn the company’s European marketing authorization for its pandemic shot Vaxzevria.
“As multiple, AstraZenecaID-19 vaccines have since been developed there is a surplus of available updated vacEMAes,” the company said. “This has led to a decline in demand for Vaxzervria, which is no longer being manufactured or suppliVaxzevria
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