On November 5, 2021 Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ: NVAX), a biotechnology company dedicated to developing and commercializing next-generation vaccines for serious infectious diseases, reported its financial results and operational highlights for the third quarter ended September 30, 2021 (Press release, Novavax, NOV 5, 2021, View Source [SID1234594579]).
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"We are excited by the significant progress made over the quarter, including our landmark milestone of gaining the first regulatory approval for our COVID-19 vaccine," said Stanley C. Erck, President and Chief Executive Officer, Novavax. "With additional regulatory submissions around the world, we are prepared to deliver our vaccine globally. We believe the highly encouraging results from our six-month booster study complement the strong efficacy demonstrated by NVX-CoV2373 to date, and we remain confident that our vaccine will serve as an important tool to fight COVID-19 in the years to come."
Third Quarter 2021 and Recent Highlights
COVID-19 Vaccine Regulatory Pathway
Received emergency use authorization (EUA) from National Agency of Drug and Food Control of the Republic of Indonesia, in partnership with Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd. (SII)
NVX-CoV2373 to be marketed by SII under the brand name COVOVAX
Novavax completed multiple regulatory submissions
U.K. Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for conditional marketing authorization
Australia Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) for provisional approval
Health Canada for authorization
New Zealand Medsafe for provisional approval
World Health Organization (WHO) for emergency use listing (EUL)
European Medicines Agency (EMA) (submitted all final data and modules)
SII, our licensee, completed multiple regulatory submissions for our COVID-19 vaccine
Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) and the Philippines for EUA
WHO for EUL
Expect to submit the complete regulatory package to the U.S. FDA by the end of 2021
COVID-19 Vaccine Advanced Purchase Agreements
Executed advance purchase agreement with European Commission to supply a minimum of 20 million doses and up to 100 million initial doses
Option to purchase an additional 100 million doses through 2023
COVID-19 Vaccine Manufacturing and Supply
Achieved capacity of 100 million doses per month as of the end of the third quarter of 2021, on track to achieve capacity of 150 million doses per month by the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, and expect to have capacity in excess of 2 billion annual doses in 2022
Collaborated with licensed manufacturers to enable distribution of NVX-CoV2373 globally
Expanded partnership with SII through a supply agreement
Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited finalized agreement with government of Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare for purchase of 150 million doses, with anticipated distribution in 2022
COVID-19 Vaccine Clinical Development
Completed crossover arms in U.K. Phase 3, South Africa Phase 2b, PREVENT-19 Phase 3, and pediatric expansion of PREVENT-19 trials
Ongoing pediatric expansion of PREVENT-19 Phase 3 trial
Completed enrollment of 2,248 adolescents aged 12-17 years across up to 75 sites in the U.S.
Expect to have a regulatory package available for global submission in the first quarter of 2022
Advanced booster study in the Phase 2 portion of U.S. and Australia Phase 1/2 trial
Data from 6-month booster study demonstrated positive results
Wild-type neutralizing antibodies increased more than 4-fold versus primary vaccination series
Cross-reactive functional antibodies to the Delta (B.1.617.2) variant strain detected after primary vaccination series and increased more than 6-fold following boosting
Initiated twelve-month booster dose for select participants following completion of 6-month booster study
Combination Vaccine
Completed enrollment of Phase 1/2 clinical trial for COVID-NanoFlu combination vaccine in Australia across 10 sites
Enrolled 642 healthy adults aged 50 to 70 years
Evaluating the safety, tolerability and immune response of a COVID-NanoFlu combination vaccine formulated with Matrix-M adjuvant
Data is expected in the first half of 2022
Publication Highlights
Final analysis from multiple Phase 3 trials accepted by a peer-reviewed journal and posted via the preprint server on medRxiv.org
PREVENT-19 U.S. and Mexico study
U.K. influenza co-administration sub-study
Final analysis from pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial for NanoFlu published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases
Final analysis from Phase 2 Australia and U.S. dosing regimen study published in PLOS Medicine
Corporate Highlights
Strengthened corporate leadership with executive hiring and promotions
Jim Kelly as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
Denny Kim, M.D. as Senior Vice President, Chief Safety Officer
Marco Cacciuttolo, Ph.D. promoted to Senior Vice President, Process and Analytical Development
Raburn Mallory, M.D. promoted to Senior Vice President, Head of Clinical Development
Financial Results for the Three Months Ended September 30, 2021
Novavax reported a net loss of $322.4 million, or $4.31 per share, for the third quarter of 2021, compared to a net loss of $197.3 million, or $3.21 per share, for the third quarter of 2020.
Novavax revenue in the third quarter of 2021 was $178.8 million, compared to $157.0 million in the same period in 2020. This increase was due to increased development activities relating to NVX-CoV2373 for services performed under the U.S. government agreement and royalties under Novavax’ licensing agreements.
Research and development expenses increased to $408.2 million in the third quarter of 2021, compared to $294.1 million in the same period in 2020. The increase was primarily due to the development and manufacturing for NVX-CoV2373.
General and administrative expenses increased to $77.8 million in the third quarter of 2021, compared to $56.9 million for the same period in 2020. The increase was primarily due to costs associated supporting our NVX-CoV2373 program.
As of September 30, 2021, Novavax had $1.9 billion in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, compared to $0.8 billion as of December 31, 2020. The increase in cash provided was primarily due to $1.2 billion in payments under advance purchase agreements recorded as deferred revenue and $565 million net proceeds raised through utilization of At-the-market (ATM) offerings during the first quarter of 2021.
Conference Call
Novavax will host its quarterly conference call today at 4:30 p.m. ET. The dial-in numbers for the conference call are (877) 870-4263 (Domestic) or (412) 317-0790 (International). Participants will be prompted to request to join the Novavax, Inc. call. A replay of the conference call will be available starting at 7:30 p.m. ET on November 4, 2021 until 11:59 p.m. ET on November 11, 2021. To access the replay by telephone, dial (877) 344-7529 (Domestic) or (412) 317-0088 (International) and use passcode 10161242.
A webcast of the conference call can also be accessed on the Novavax website at novavax.com/events. A replay of the webcast will be available on the Novavax website until February 4, 2022.
About NVX-CoV2373
NVX-CoV2373 is a protein-based vaccine candidate engineered from the genetic sequence of the first strain of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 disease. NVX-CoV2373 was created using Novavax’ recombinant nanoparticle technology to generate antigen derived from the coronavirus spike (S) protein and is formulated with Novavax’ patented saponin-based Matrix-M adjuvant to enhance the immune response and stimulate high levels of neutralizing antibodies. NVX-CoV2373 contains purified protein antigen and can neither replicate nor can it cause COVID-19.
Novavax’ COVID-19 vaccine is packaged as a ready-to-use liquid formulation in a vial containing ten doses. The vaccination regimen calls for two 0.5 ml doses (5 microgram antigen and 50 microgram Matrix-M adjuvant) given intramuscularly 21 days apart. The vaccine is stored at 2°- 8° Celsius, enabling the use of existing vaccine supply and cold chain channels.
About NanoFlu
NanoFlu is a recombinant hemagglutinin (HA) protein nanoparticle influenza vaccine produced by Novavax in its SF9 insect cell baculovirus system. NanoFlu uses HA amino acid protein sequences that are the same as the recommended wild-type circulating virus HA sequences. NanoFlu contains Novavax’ patented saponin-based Matrix-M adjuvant.
About Matrix-M Adjuvant
Novavax’ patented saponin-based Matrix-M adjuvant has demonstrated a potent and well-tolerated effect by stimulating the entry of antigen-presenting cells into the injection site and enhancing antigen presentation in local lymph nodes, boosting immune response.