Shares of pharmaceutical company Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) were down more than 10% in pre-market trading after it again delayed its timeline for ramping up production of its COVID-19 vaccine.
Novavax said in a news release that it does not expect to seek regulatory authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine in the U.S., Britain and Europe until the third quarter of this year, sending its shares falling as much as 11%.
The Maryland-based company has repeatedly pushed back production forecasts and has struggled to access raw materials and equipment needed to make its COVID-19 vaccine. Novavax shares closed the Monday (May 10) trading session at $160.50 a share.
Novavax said it does not expect to hit its production target of 150 million shots per month until the fourth quarter of 2021, later than its previous forecast of sometime in the third quarter. Novavax currently has about 30 million to 40 million vaccine doses on the shelves and its factories are making more each week.
While vaccine demand is declining in the U.S., the Novavax shot is expected to play an important role in global inoculation efforts. Many countries such as India and much of South America still have low vaccination rates.
Novavax has promised to supply 200 million shots to countries around the world, in addition to the 1.1 billion doses it has committed to international vaccine sharing programs.
Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine has yet to be authorized in any country, but the company reported late-stage data from a United Kingdom trial that showed it to be highly effective against the original version of the coronavirus and a more contagious variant first found in Britain.
Novavax reported a net loss for the first quarter of $223 million U.S. It had $447 million U.S. in revenue, mostly payments from the U.S. government for its COVID-19 vaccine research and spent $593 million U.S. on research and development during the quarter.
