nvax-20231231
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UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
Form 10-K
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023
OR
For the transition period from to .
Commission File No. 000-26770
NOVAVAX, INC.
(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)
(State of incorporation) (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)
700 Quince Orchard Road,
Gaithersburg, Maryland 20878
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (240)268-2000
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of each class Trading Symbol Name of each exchange on which registered
Common Stock, Par Value $0.01 per share NVAX The Nasdaq Global Select Market
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: Not Applicable
Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐ No ☒
Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of the Registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. ☒
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):
Large accelerated filer ☒ Accelerated filer ☐
Non-accelerated filer ☐ Smaller reporting company ☐
Emerging growth company ☐
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant had elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provide pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☒
If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Exchange Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial
statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to § 240.10D-1(b). ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☒
The aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates of the Registrant (based on the last reported sale price of Registrants common stock on June 30, 2023 on the Nasdaq Global Select Market) was approximately $699,000,000.
As of February 23, 2024, there were 139,953,143 shares of the Registrant’s common stock outstanding.
Documents incorporated by reference: Portions of the Registrant’s Definitive Proxy Statement to be filed no later than 120 days after the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023 in connection with the Registrant’s 2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K to the extent indicated herein.
Table of Contents
NOVAVAX, INC.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
PART I
Item 1. BUSINESS 4
Item 1A. RISK FACTORS 27
Item 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS 64
Item 1C. CYBERSECURITY 64
Item 2. PROPERTIES 64
Item 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS 64
Item 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES 67
PART II
Item 6. RESERVED 69
Item 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK 84
Item 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA 85
Item 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES 85
Item 9B. OTHER INFORMATION 86
Item 9C. DISCLOSURE REGARDING FOREIGN JURISDICTIONS THAT PREVENT INSPECTIONS 86
PART III
Item 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS, AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE 86
Item 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION 87
Item 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES 87
PART IV
Item 15. EXHIBITS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES 88
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CERTAIN DEFINITIONS
All references in this Annual Report on Form 10-K to “Novavax,” the “Company,” “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to Novavax, Inc. including its wholly-owned subsidiaries (unless the context otherwise indicates). All references in this Annual Report on Form 10-Kto "NVX-CoV2373,” or “prototype vaccine” refer to our NuvaxovidTM prototype COVID-19 vaccine, and all references to “NVX-CoV2601,” or “updated vaccine” refer to our NuvaxovidTM updated COVID-19 vaccine. We refer to our prototype vaccine and updated vaccine, collectively, as our “COVID-19 Vaccine”. Local regulatory authorities have also specified nomenclature for the prototype and updated vaccines for labeling within their territories (e.g., “Novavax COVID-19 Vaccine, Adjuvanted” and “Novavax COVID-19, Adjuvanted (2023-2024 Formula),” respectively, for the U.S.). The Company’s partner, Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd., markets NVX-CoV2373 as “CovovaxTM.”
NOTE REGARDING TRADEMARKS
NovavaxTM, NuvaxovidTM, Matrix-MTM, MatrixTM, PrepareTM, ResolveTM, and ResVaxTM are trademarks of Novavax. Any other trademarks referred to in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are the property of their owners. All rights reserved. We do not intend our use or display of other companies’ trade names or trademarks to imply an endorsement or sponsorship of us by such companies, or any relationship with any of these companies.
FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. As a result of many factors, such as those set forth under “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. Please also see the section titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”
SUMMARY OF RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH OUR BUSINESS
Our business is subject to numerous risks which are discussed more fully under the heading “Risk Factors” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. These risks include, but are not limited to, the following:
•We have a history of losses and our future profitability is uncertain.
•We will continue to require significant funding to maintain our current level of operations and fund the further development of our vaccine candidates.
•Because our vaccine product development efforts depend on new and rapidly evolving technologies, we cannot be certain that our efforts will be successful.
•The regulatory and commercial success of our COVID-19 Vaccine remains uncertain. While we have received full marketing authorization provisional registration, conditional marketing authorization (“CMA”), or emergency use authorization (“EUA”) for our prototype COVID-19 Vaccine and our updated COVID-19 vaccine in a number of jurisdictions, we may be unable to obtain full regulatory approvals in the United States (“U.S.”) or other jurisdictions for our updated vaccine or new versions in the future, or produce a successful vaccine in a timely manner, if at all.
•The emergence and transmissibility of variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and the demand for bivalent vaccines, may affect market acceptance or sales of our COVID-19 Vaccine, and our strategy to develop new versions of our COVID-19 Vaccine to protect against certain variants may not be successful.
•We are a biotechnology company and face significant risk in developing, manufacturing, and commercializing our products and product candidates.
•Because we depend on third parties to conduct some of our laboratory testing and clinical trials, and a significant amount of our vaccine manufacturing and distribution, we may encounter delays in or lose some control over our efforts to develop and supply products and product candidates.
•We are highly dependent on the commercial success of our COVID-19 Vaccine, and even though we have received provisional registration, CMA, or EUA or full marketing authorization in certain jurisdictions for our COVID-19
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Vaccine, and even if we have products licensed in additional markets, our vaccine products may not be initially or ever profitable.
•The risks associated with COVID-19 and related governmental public health policies continue to evolve, which may have unpredictable effects on the prospects for commercial success of our COVID-19 commercial program.
•Many of our competitors have significantly greater resources and experience, which may negatively impact our commercial opportunities and those of our current and future licensees.
•There is significant competition in the development of a vaccine against COVID-19 and a combined vaccine against COVID-19 and influenza, and we may never see returns on the significant resources we are devoting to our vaccine candidates.
•We may not succeed in obtaining full U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“U.S. FDA”) licensure or foreign regulatory approvals necessary to sell our vaccine candidates.
•Our product candidates might fail to meet their primary endpoints in clinical trials, meaning that we will not have the clinical data required to support full regulatory approvals.
•The regulatory pathway for our COVID-19 Vaccine is continually evolving, and such evolution may result in unexpected or unforeseen challenges.
•We have conducted, are conducting, and plan to conduct in the future, a number of clinical trials for our COVID-19 Vaccine at sites outside the U.S. and the U.S. FDA may not accept data from trials conducted in such locations.
•The later discovery of previously unknown problems with a product, manufacturer, or facility may result in restrictions, including withdrawal of a vaccine that had previously received regulatory approval in certain jurisdictions from the market.
•Our success depends on our ability to maintain the proprietary nature of our technology.
•Our business may be adversely affected if we do not successfully execute our business development initiatives.
•Given our current cash position and cash flow forecast, and significant uncertainties related to 2024 revenue, substantial doubt exists regarding our ability to continue as a going concern through one year from the date that the financial statements included in this Annual Report were issued.
•Servicing our 5.00% convertible senior unsecured notes due 2027 (the “Notes”) requires a significant amount of cash, and we may not have sufficient cash flow resources to pay our debt.
•Because our stock price has been and will likely continue to be highly volatile, the market price of our common stock may be lower or more volatile than expected.
•Litigation could have a material adverse impact on our results of operation and financial condition.
•We or the third parties upon whom we depend may be adversely affected by natural or man-made disasters or public health emergencies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
PART I
Item 1. BUSINESS
Overview
Novavax, Inc., together with our wholly owned subsidiaries, is a biotechnology company that promotes improved global health through the discovery, development, and commercialization of innovative vaccines to prevent serious infectious diseases. Our proprietary recombinant technology platform harnesses the power and speed of genetic engineering to efficiently produce highly immunogenic nanoparticle vaccines designed to address urgent global health needs.
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Our vaccine candidates are nanostructures of conformationally correct recombinant proteins that mimic those found on pathogens. This technology enables the immune system to recognize target proteins and develop protective immune responses. We believe that our vaccine technology may lead to the induction of a differentiated immune response that may be more efficacious than naturally occurring immunity or other vaccine approaches. Our vaccine candidates also incorporate our proprietary saponin-based Matrix-MTM adjuvant to enhance the immune response, stimulate higher levels of functional antibodies, and induce a cellular immune response.
We have developed an updated COVID-19 vaccine for the 2023-2024 vaccination season. In October 2023, the U.S. FDA granted EUA for our updated vaccine for active immunization to prevent COVID-19. The updated vaccine is authorized as (1) a single dose in individuals 12 years and older who have been vaccinated with any COVID-19 vaccine at least 2 months after receipt of the last previous dose of COVID-19 vaccine, and (2) a series of 2 doses administered 3 weeks apart to individuals 12 years and older who were not previously vaccinated with any COVID-19 vaccine. Our updated vaccine is available within the U.S. at many major pharmacy retailers. Outside the U.S. for our updated vaccine, in January 2024, we were granted marketing authorization by the United Kingdom’s (“UK”) Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (“MHRA”), in December 2023, we were granted expanded authorization by Health Canada, and in October 2023, we were granted approval by the European Commission (“EC”). We are committed to supplying of our key target markets through advance purchase agreements (“APAs”) covering such markets. We continue to work closely with regulatory authorities in many jurisdictions for authorization of our updated vaccine. We previously developed a prototype COVID-19 vaccine, which has received full marketing authorization (“MA”), marketing approval, interim authorization, provisional approval, CMA, from multiple regulatory authorities in over 40 countries globally. We continue to progress our regulatory authorizations for our prototype vaccine in select territories, as we believe these may facilitate authorization of our vaccine candidates for updated strains in the future.
Additionally, we are developing a COVID-19 Influenza Combination (“CIC”) vaccine candidate. Our other areas of focus include providing Matrix-MTM adjuvant for collaborations, including in R21/Matrix-MTM adjuvant malaria vaccine, which in December 2023 received prequalification from the World Health Organization (“WHO”) and previously received authorization in several countries, as well as other preclinical vaccine research with our Matrix-MTM adjuvant, including through a partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute.
We were incorporated in 1987 under the laws of the State of Delaware. Our principal executive offices are located at 700 Quince Orchard Road, Gaithersburg, Maryland, 20878, and our telephone number is (240) 268-2000. Our common stock is listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “NVAX.”
Technology Overview
We believe our recombinant nanoparticle vaccine technology, together with our proprietary Matrix-MTM adjuvant, is well suited for the development and commercialization of vaccine candidates targeting a broad scope of respiratory and other endemic and emerging infectious diseases at scale.
Recombinant Nanoparticle Vaccine Technology
Once a target of interest has been identified, the genetic sequence encoding the antigen is selected for developing the vaccine construct. The genetic sequence may be optimized to enhance protein stability or confer resistance to degradation. This genetic construct is inserted into the baculovirus Spodoptera frugiperda (“Sf-/BV”) insect cell-expression system, which enables efficient, large-scale expression of the optimized protein. The Sf-/BV system produces protein-based antigens that are properly folded and modified—which can be critical for functional, protective immunity. Protein antigens are purified and organized around a polysorbate-based nanoparticle core in a configuration that resembles their native presentation. This results in a highly immunogenic nanoparticle that is ready to be formulated with Matrix-MTM adjuvant.
Matrix-MTM Adjuvant
Our proprietary Matrix-MTM adjuvant has been a key differentiator within our platform. This adjuvant has enabled potent, well-tolerated, and durable efficacy by stimulating the entry of antigen presenting cells (“APCs”) into the injection site and enhancing antigen presentation in local lymph nodes. This in turn activates APCs, T-cell and B-cell populations, and plasma cells, which promotes the production of high-affinity antibodies. This potent mechanism of action enables a lower dose of antigen to achieve the desired immune response, thereby contributing to increased vaccine supply and manufacturing capacity. These immune-boosting and dose-sparing capabilities contribute to the adjuvant’s highly unique profile.
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We continue to evaluate commercial opportunities for the use of our Matrix-MTM adjuvant alongside vaccine antigens produced by other manufacturers. Matrix-MTM adjuvant is being evaluated in combination with several partner-led malaria vaccine candidates, including the R21/Matrix-MTM adjuvant malaria vaccine created by the Jenner Institute, University of Oxford. The R21/Matrix-MTM adjuvant vaccine has been licensed to Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd. (“SIIPL”) for commercialization and in December 2023 received prequalification by the WHO, along with authorizations received earlier in the year in Burkino Faso, Ghana, and Nigeria. Additionally, in May 2023, we entered into a 3-year agreement with the Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute to provide our Matrix-MTM adjuvant for use in preclinical vaccine research. In June 2023, we signed a material transfer agreement with SK bioscience Co., Ltd. (“SK”) for use of our Matrix-MTM adjuvant in preclinical vaccine experiments for shingles, influenza, and pan-sarbecovirus vaccine. Our adjuvant technology is also being used by commercial partners as a key component in veterinary vaccines against equine influenza and Strangles, as well as the manufacture of black-widow anti-venom.
COVID-19 Vaccine Regulatory and Licensure
We have received full authorizations in select territories for our prototype vaccine developed for the 2022-2023 COVID-19 vaccination season and continue to receive authorizations for our updated vaccine developed for the 2023-2024 COVID-19 vaccination season in accordance with the updated strain protocol guidance. We continue to progress our regulatory authorizations for our prototype vaccine in select territories, as we believe these may facilitate authorization of our vaccine candidates for updated strains in the future. Additionally, we progress our regulatory authorizations for our updated vaccine and plan to continue to do so for subsequent future variant strains for each annual respiratory season.
Within the U.S. market, our updated vaccine received EUA in October 2023 from the U.S. FDA to prevent COVID-19 in individuals aged 12 and older. Our updated vaccine is marketed in the U.S. under the name Novavax COVID-19 Vaccine, Adjuvanted (2023-2024 Formula). The formulation for our updated vaccine aligns with global harmonized guidance from the U.S. FDA, the European Medicines Agency (“EMA”), and WHO recommendations for the 2023-2024 vaccination season. In September 2023, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (“ACIP”) voted in favor of a recommendation for the use of 2023-2024 monovalent XBB containing COVID-19 vaccines authorized under EUA or approved by Biologics License Application (“BLA”) in individuals 6 months and older, which was adopted by the CDC Director. The U.S. FDA’s grant of EUA and CDC’s September 2023 recommendation makes our updated vaccine the only protein-based non-mRNA COVID-19 vaccine available in the U.S.
Outside of the U.S. market, we continue to progress regulatory authorizations for our updated vaccine globally. We highlight as follows our fourth quarter 2023 and subsequent authorizations received through the date of filing this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
In January 2024, we were granted marketing authorization by the UK MHRA for our updated vaccine, marketed under the name NuvaxovidTM XBB.1.5 Vaccine, in individuals aged 12 and older.
In December 2023, we were granted expanded authorization by Health Canada and EUA by the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration for our updated vaccine, marketed under the name NuvaxovidTM XBB.1.5 Vaccine, in individuals aged 12 and older.
In November 2023, our updated vaccine received EUA in South Korea where SK bioscience has exclusive commercial rights to our updated vaccine. Additionally, in November 2023, we were granted emergency use license (“EUL”) by the WHO for our updated vaccine, marketed under the name NuvaxovidTM XBB.1.5 Vaccine, in individuals aged 12 and older. The EUL assists WHO member states in assessing vaccines with the aim of expediting availability and enables the WHO’s 194 member states to expedite regulatory approvals to import and administer the vaccine.
In October 2023, we were granted approval by the EC for our updated vaccine in individuals aged 12 and older, which followed the positive opinion for approval from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the EMA. We expect to deliver doses to European countries pursuant to existing APAs.
We have previously received authorizations for our prototype COVID-19 vaccine in over 40 countries globally including from major regulatory agencies such as the U.S. FDA, WHO, EMA, and MHRA. To date, we have received full MA, approval, interim authorization, provisional approval, CMA, and EUA for the adult population, aged 18 and older, the adolescent population, aged 12 to 17 years, and the pediatric population, aged 7 to 11 years in select territories. The regulatory authorizations for our prototype vaccine include primary series and both homologous and heterologous booster indications within specific countries. For the territories in which our vaccine has received regulatory authorizations, our prototype vaccine
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is marketed under the names (i) NuvaxovidTM (SARS-CoV-2 rS Recombinant, adjuvanted), (ii) CovovaxTM (manufacturing and commercialization by SIIPL), or (iii) Novavax COVID-19 Vaccine, Adjuvanted.
In October 2023, our prototype vaccine received full marketing authorization in the UK from the MHRA in individuals aged 12 and older, full approval in Singapore from Singapore’s Health Sciences Authority in individuals aged 12 and older, full registration in Australia from Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration as a booster in individuals aged 12 and older, and authorization in the EU from EMA for use as a booster in adolescents aged 12 through 17 years. We believe these authorizations for our prototype vaccine may facilitate authorizations of our vaccine candidates for our COVID-19 vaccine strain updates in the future.
We are working to continue to expand our label for heterologous boosting in adults and adolescents, to expand our label for primary and re-vaccination in younger children, and to achieve supportive policy recommendations enabling broad market access. We continue to work closely with governments, regulatory authorities, and non-governmental organizations in our commitment to facilitate global access to our COVID-19 vaccine.
APAs
We have entered into APAs (also referred to as “supply agreements” throughout this Annual Report on Form 10-K) with the EC and various countries globally. The APAs typically contain terms that include upfront payments intended to assist us in funding investments related to building out and operating our manufacturing and distribution network, among other expenses, in support of our global supply commitment. Such upfront payments generally become non-refundable upon our achievement of certain development milestones. We currently have approximately $2 billion in committed APAs anticipated for future delivery.
We had an APA with the EC, acting on behalf of various European Union member states to supply a minimum of 20 million and up to 100 million initial doses of prototype vaccine, with the option for the EC to purchase an additional 100 million doses up to a maximum aggregate of 200 million doses in one or more tranches through 2023. In 2022, we were notified by the EC that it was cancelling approximately 7 million doses of its prior commitment originally scheduled for delivery in the first and second quarters of 2022, in accordance with the APA, and reducing the order to approximately 63 million doses. In January 2023, we finalized a revised delivery schedule for the remaining 20 million committed doses under the APA that were originally scheduled for delivery during the first and second quarters of 2022. The APA expired in August 2023 and required that any open and outstanding orders from European Union member states be satisfied by February 2024. Since August 2023, any additional doses have been managed by amending outstanding orders with deliveries made by February 2024.
We have an APA with the Commonwealth of Australia for the purchase of doses of COVID-19 Vaccine (the “Australia APA”). In April 2023, we amended the Australia APA to reduce the number of doses to be delivered with a commensurate increase in the per-dose price, such that the total contract value of the Australia APA is maintained with doses to be delivered through 2024. In May 2023, we extended a credit for certain doses delivered in 2022 to Australia that qualified for replacement under the Australia APA. This credit is the result of a single lot sold to the Australian government that upon pre-planned 6-month stability testing was found to have fallen below the defined specifications and the lot therefore was removed from the market. The credit will be applied against the future sale of doses to Australia. In July 2023, we amended the Australia APA to provide for replacement doses and to extend the delivery schedule through 2025. As of February 2024, we had not yet received Therapeutic Goods Administration (“TGA”) authorization or delivered doses as contemplated in the July 2023 amendment and are in active discussions with the Australian government on both the TGA authorization and delivery of the doses previously scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2023. In February 2024, we received notice from the Australian government purporting to cancel its order for such prototype vaccine doses. We believe the cancellation was not proper under the amended Australia APA. However, if such a cancellation were determined to be allowable, $6.0 million of the deferred revenue would become a credit towards future deliveries of doses and approximately $48 million of the contract value related to future deliverables would no longer be available.
We have an APA with His Majesty the King in Right of Canada as represented by the Minister of Public Works and Government Services, as successor in interest to Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of Public Works and Government Services (the “Canadian government”), for the purchase of doses of COVID-19 Vaccine (the “Canada APA”). In April 2023, we amended the Canada APA, pursuant to which the Canadian government forfeited certain doses originally scheduled for delivery in 2022 for a payment of $100.4 million, which we received in the second quarter of 2023. In June 2023, we entered into an additional amendment (the “June 2023 Amendment”) to the Canada APA. Pursuant to the June 2023 Amendment, (i) the Canadian government forfeited certain doses of COVID-19 Vaccine previously scheduled
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for delivery and agreed to pay a total amount of $349.6 million to us in two equal installments, which total amount equaled the remaining balance owed by the Canadian government with respect to such forfeited vaccine doses, (ii) the amount of doses of COVID-19 Vaccine due for delivery was reduced, (iii) the delivery schedule for the remaining doses of COVID-19 Vaccine to be delivered was revised, and (iv) the parties agreed Novavax would use the Biologics Manufacturing Centre (“BMC”) Inc. to produce bulk antigen for doses in 2024 and 2025. The June 2023 Amendment maintained the total contract value of the original Canada APA. The first Installment of $174.8 million was payable upon execution of the June 2023 Amendment and received by Novavax in July 2023, and the second installment of $174.8 million was contingent and payable upon the delivery of vaccine doses in the second half of 2023 and received by Novavax in January 2024. The Canadian government may terminate the Canada APA, as amended, if we fail to receive regulatory approval for our COVID-19 Vaccine using bulk antigen produced at BMC on or before December 31, 2024. Our 2024 plans do not currently anticipate the submission for regulatory approval of our COVID-19 Vaccine using bulk antigen produced at BMC, and we plan to work with the Canadian government on an amendment that addresses possible alternatives, which may not be achievable. As of December 31, 2023, $102.8 million was classified as short-term Deferred revenue and $485.3 million was classified as long-term Deferred revenue with respect to the Canadian APA on our consolidated balance sheet. If the Canadian government terminates the Canada APA, $28.0 million of the deferred revenue would become refundable and approximately $224 million of the contract value related to future deliverables would no longer be available (see Note 3 to our consolidated financial statements). In the event that the contract is terminated, we would consider competing in the Canadian commercial market. Pursuant to the June 2023 Amendment, Novavax and the Canadian government will endeavor to expand the previously agreed in-country commitment to Canada and to further partner to provide health, economic, and future pandemic preparedness benefits to Canada, which value may be provided through a number of activities, including without limitation, capital investments, the performance of activities or services, or the provision of technology or intellectual property licenses. Further, the parties will endeavor to enter into a memorandum of understanding (the “MOU”) to illustrate our ability to deliver such benefits over a 15-year period with an aggregate value of not less than 100% of the amount remaining to be paid under the June 2023 Amendment and ultimately received by us. As of December 31, 2023, discussions regarding the MOU were ongoing. We agreed to hold $20.0 million of the second installment payment received in January 2024 in escrow for the benefit of the Canadian government, which amount is the sole recourse available to the Canadian government in the event of non-performance under the MOU.
In July 2022, we entered into an Amended and Restated SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine Supply Agreement (as amended on September 26, 2022, the “Amended and Restated UK Supply Agreement”) with The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (as assigned to the UK Health Security Agency), acting on behalf of the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the “Authority”), which amended and restated in its entirety the SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine Supply Agreement, dated October 22, 2020, between the parties (the “Original UK Supply Agreement”). Under the Original UK Supply Agreement, the Authority agreed to purchase 60 million doses of prototype vaccine and made an upfront payment to us. Under the terms of the Amended and Restated UK Supply Agreement, the Authority agreed to purchase a minimum of 1 million doses and up to an additional 15 million doses (the “Conditional Doses”) of prototype vaccine, with the number of Conditional Doses contingent on, and subject to reduction based on, our timely achievement of supportive recommendations from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (the “JCVI”) that is approved by the UK Secretary of State for Health, with respect to use of the vaccine for (a) the general adult population as part of a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine booster campaign in the United Kingdom or (b) the general adolescent population as part of a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine booster campaign in the United Kingdom or as a primary series SARS-CoV-2 vaccination, excluding where that recommendation relates only to one or more population groups comprising less than one million members in the United Kingdom. If the Authority did not purchase the Conditional Doses or if the number of such Conditional Doses was reduced below 15 million doses of prototype vaccine, we would have to repay up to $225 million related to the upfront payment previously received from the Authority under the Original UK Supply Agreement. Under the Amended and Restated UK Supply Agreement, the Authority also has the option to purchase up to an additional 44 million doses, in one or more tranches, through 2024.
As of November 30, 2022, the JCVI had not made a supportive recommendation with respect to prototype vaccine, thereby triggering, under the terms of the Amended and Restated UK Supply Agreement, (i) a reduction of the number of Conditional Doses from 15 million doses to 7.5 million doses, which reduced number of Conditional Doses were contingent on, and subject to further reduction based on, our timely achievement by November 30, 2023 of a supportive recommendation from JCVI that is approved by the UK Secretary of State for Health as described in the paragraph above, and (ii) an obligation for us to repay $112.5 million related to the upfront payment previously received from the Authority under the Original UK Supply Agreement. In April 2023, we repaid the $112.5 million related to the November 30, 2022 triggering event. As of November 30, 2023, the JCVI had not made a supportive recommendation with respect to the prototype vaccine, thereby triggering a reduction in the number of Conditional Doses from 7.5 million doses to zero. As of February 2024, the Company is in
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discussions with the Authority regarding the treatment of the remaining upfront payment previously received of $112.5 million, which is reflected in Other current liabilities.
In May 2021, we entered into an APA with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (“Gavi” and “the Gavi APA”). Under the terms of the Gavi APA and a separate purchase agreement between Gavi and SIIPL, 1.1 billion doses of the prototype vaccine were to be made available to countries participating in the COVAX Facility, which was established to allocate and distribute vaccines equitably to participating countries and economies. We expected to manufacture and distribute 350 million doses of the prototype vaccine to countries participating in the COVAX Facility. Under a separate purchase agreement with Gavi, SIIPL was expected to manufacture and deliver the balance of the 1.1 billion doses of prototype vaccine to low- and middle-income countries participating in the COVAX Facility. We expected to deliver doses with antigen and adjuvant manufactured at facilities directly funded under our funding agreement with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (“CEPI”), with initial doses supplied by SIIPL and Serum Life Sciences Limited (“SLS”) under a supply agreement. We expected to supply significant doses that Gavi would allocate to low-, middle- and high-income countries, subject to certain limitations, utilizing a tiered pricing schedule and Gavi could prioritize such doses to low- and middle- income countries, at lower prices. Additionally, we could provide additional doses of prototype vaccine, to the extent available from CEPI-funded manufacturing facilities, in the event that SIIPL could not materially deliver expected vaccine doses to the COVAX Facility. Under the agreement, we received an upfront payment of $350.0 million from Gavi in 2021 and an additional payment of $350.0 million in 2022 related to our achieving an emergency use license for our prototype vaccine by the WHO (the “Advance Payment Amount”).
On November 18, 2022, we delivered written notice to Gavi to terminate the Gavi APA on the basis of Gavi’s failure to procure the purchase of 350 million doses of our prototype vaccine from us as required by the Gavi APA. As of November 18, 2022, we had only received orders under the Gavi APA for approximately 2 million doses. On December 2, 2022, Gavi issued a written notice purporting to terminate the Gavi APA based on Gavi’s contention that we had repudiated the agreement and, therefore, materially breached the Gavi APA. Gavi also contended that, based on its purported termination of the Gavi APA, it was entitled to a refund of the Advance Payment Amount less any amounts that have been credited against the purchase price for binding orders placed by a buyer participating in the COVAX Facility. The remaining Gavi Advance Payment Amount, which was $696.4 million as of December 31, 2023 has been classified within Other current liabilities in the Company’s consolidated balance sheet. On January 24, 2023, Gavi filed a demand for arbitration with the International Court of Arbitration based on the claims described above. We filed our Answer and Counterclaims on March 2, 2023. On April 5, 2023, Gavi filed its Reply to our Counterclaims. On February 16, 2024, we and Gavi entered into a Termination and Settlement Agreement (the “ Gavi Settlement Agreement”) terminating the Gavi APA, settling the arbitration proceedings and releasing both parties of all claims arising from, under or otherwise in connection with the Gavi APA. Pursuant to the Settlement Agreement, we are responsible for payment to Gavi of (i) an initial settlement payment of $75 million, which we paid on February 20, 2024, and (ii) deferred payments, in equal annual amounts of $80 million payable each calendar year through a deferred payment term ending December 31, 2028. The deferred payments are due in variable quarterly installments beginning in the first quarter of 2024 and total $400 million during the deferred payment term. Such deferred payments may be reduced through Gavi’s use of an annual vaccine credit equivalent to the unpaid balance of such deferred payments each year, which may be applied to qualifying sales of any of our vaccines for supply to certain low-income and lower-middle income countries. We have the right to price the vaccines offered to such low-income and lower-middle income countries at our discretion, and, when utilized by Gavi, we will credit the actual price per vaccine paid against the applicable credit. We intend to price vaccines offered via the tender process, consistent with our shared goal with Gavi to provide equitable access to those countries. Also in the Settlement Agreement, we grant Gavi an additional credit of up to $225 million, which may be applied against any additional qualifying sales, exceeding the $80 million deferred payment amount in any calendar year, of our vaccines in such countries during such deferred payment term. In addition, we and Gavi entered into a security agreement pursuant to which we granted Gavi a security interest in accounts receivable from SIIPL under the SIIPL R21 Agreement (see Note 4 to our consolidated financial statements for more details on SIIPL R21 Agreement), which will continue for the deferred payment term of the Gavi Settlement Agreement.
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Product Pipeline
(1) Authorized in select geographies under trade names Novavax COVID-19 Vaccine, Adjuvanted; CovovaxTM; and NuvaxovidTM, and authorized in the U.S. under trade name, Novavax COVID-19 Vaccine, Adjuvanted (2023-2024 Formula); Ongoing post-authorization Phase 3 strain change trial.
(2) Authorized in Ghana, Nigeria, and Burkina Faso; Commercialized by Serum Institute of India; Granted prequalification by the WHO.
Pipeline Overview
Our clinical pipeline encompasses vaccine candidates for infectious diseases, with our COVID-19 prototype vaccine (NVX-CoV2373) and our COVID-19 updated vaccine (NVX-CoV2601), as our lead products. Our prototype and updated vaccine has received authorizations for both adult and adolescent populations globally. Our updated vaccine has received authorization from the U.S. FDA, the EC, the WHO, and several other countries globally. We advanced our updated vaccine to a post-authorization Phase 3 safety and immunogenicity trial. Beyond our COVID-19 vaccine, our clinical pipeline includes a CIC vaccine candidate, in addition to our Matrix-MTM adjuvant being used for collaboration in R21/Matrix-MTM adjuvant malaria vaccine.
We are developing a CIC vaccine candidate, which combines our COVID-19 vaccine and our updated seasonal nanoparticle influenza vaccine candidate in a single formulation. We continue to progress a Phase 2 trial of our CIC vaccine candidate. We have selected the CIC dose formulation for advanced development, and contingent upon U.S. FDA concurrence, we are prepared to move directly into a Phase 3 trial in the second half of 2024 to support accelerated approval, with a potential launch in the U.S. in the fall of 2026.
In addition to our CIC vaccine candidate, we believe our partner-led R21/MatrixTM adjuvant malaria vaccine presents significant potential. Based on preliminary results from an ongoing Phase 3 trial in infants and toddlers in Africa, showing 72-79% efficacy, the R21/MatrixTM adjuvant malaria vaccine has been authorized in Ghana, Nigeria, and Burkina Faso, and in December 2023, was granted prequalification by the WHO.
Coronavirus Vaccine Clinical Development
We remain focused on expanding our COVID-19 vaccine label within the booster, adolescent, and pediatric indications. We continue to evaluate vaccine safety, immunogenicity, and effectiveness through ongoing clinical trials and collaborative evidence-generating real-world studies. We expect to leverage these clinical insights to advance additional regulatory approvals of our COVID-19 vaccine globally, amidst the evolving COVID-19 landscape.
Phase 3 Strain-Change and Re-vaccination Studies
Study 311 Part 2: In August 2023, we announced topline results demonstrating immunologic superiority of our bivalent prototype and Omicron BA.5 vaccine compared to our prototype vaccine (NVX-CoV2373) for Omicron BA.5 specific responses. This study is ongoing with the last patient visit expected to occur in the first quarter of 2024. This study design was developed in consultation with regulatory agencies to support our U.S. BLA and regulatory filings in other territories for our strain-change request for our updated vaccine (NVX-CoV2601), and to demonstrate that our protein-based vaccine can be successfully adapted to new variant strains.
Study 313: In September 2023, we fully enrolled 332 adults aged 18 and older in Part 1 of the study to evaluate the immunogenicity and safety of our updated vaccine (NVX-CoV2601) in previously mRNA vaccinated individuals. Preliminary topline results indicate that the study achieved its co-primary endpoints and successfully demonstrated immunological
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superiority of NVX-CoV2601 compared to our prototype vaccine for Omicron XBB.1.5 specific immune responses. In November 2023, we fully enrolled 338 adults aged 18 and older in Part 2 of the study which will evaluate the immunogenicity of our updated vaccine (NVX-CoV2601) in previously unvaccinated individuals. Part 2 topline results are expected in the second quarter of 2024. Data from Study 313 are intended to support BLA supplements and similar regulatory submissions in other territories for future variant strain formulations.
Study 314: In September 2023, we fully enrolled 401 adolescents aged 12 to 17 years who were previously vaccinated with mRNA vaccines to evaluate the immunogenicity of boosting with our updated vaccine (NVX-CoV2601) and with a bivalent format vaccine containing our updated vaccine (NVX-CoV2373 + NVX-CoV2601). These data are intended to support adolescent heterologous booster label expansion in some territories with topline results expected in the second quarter of 2024.
Phase 2b/3 Pediatric HummingbirdTM Study
In August 2023, we announced topline results from our Phase 2b/3 HummingbirdTM trial that met its primary endpoints in children aged 6 through 11 years demonstrating both tolerability and immunologic responses. We remain on track to submit data for this cohort to the U.S. FDA in the first half of 2024. This ongoing trial is evaluating the safety, effectiveness (immunogenicity), and efficacy of two doses of our prototype vaccine (NVX-CoV2373), followed by a booster 6 months after the primary vaccination series. The trial includes three age de-escalation cohorts of 1,200 children each. The next cohort aged 2 through 5 years is fully enrolled, with topline results expected in the first quarter of 2024. The last cohort aged 6 to 23 months is fully enrolled and topline results are expected in the second quarter of 2024.
COVID-19 Vaccine Funding
We obtained critical funding from the U.S. government to support the development of COVID-19 Vaccine for the U.S. population, including $1.8 billion from a partnership formerly known as Operation Warp Speed. In July 2020, we entered into a Project Agreement (the “Project Agreement”) with Advanced Technology International, Inc. (“ATI”), the Consortium Management Firm acting on behalf of the Medical CBRN Defense Consortium in connection with the partnership. The partnership was among components of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Defense working to accelerate the development, manufacturing, and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics. The Project Agreement relates to the Base Agreement we entered into with ATI in June 2020 (the “Base Agreement,” together with the Project Agreement, the “USG Agreement”). The original USG Agreement required us to conduct certain clinical, regulatory, and other activities, including a pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial to determine the safety and efficacy of prototype vaccine, and to manufacture and deliver to the U.S. government 100 million doses of the vaccine candidate. Funding under the USG Agreement is payable to us for various development, clinical trial, manufacturing, regulatory, and other activities. The USG Agreement contains terms and conditions that are customary for U.S. government agreements of this nature, including provisions giving the U.S. government the right to terminate the Base Agreement or the Project Agreement based on a reasonable determination that the funded project will not produce beneficial results commensurate with the expenditure of resources and that termination would be in the U.S. government’s interest. If the Project Agreement was terminated prior to completion, we were entitled to be paid for work performed and costs or obligations incurred prior to termination and consistent with the terms of the USG Agreement. As of December 31, 2023, we have recognized the full $1.8 billion-funding under the USG Agreement in grant revenue.
Our funding agreement with CEPI, under which CEPI agreed to fund up to $399.5 million to us to support the development of prototype vaccine, provided up to $257.0 million in CEPI Grant Funding and up to $142.5 million in CEPI Forgivable Loan Funding, which are loans in the form of one or more forgivable no-interest term loans to fund certain manufacturing activities and are not subject to restrictive or financial covenants. Payments received under the CEPI Forgivable Loan Funding are only repayable if project vaccine, as defined under the CEPI funding agreement, manufactured by the contract manufacturing organization (“CMO”) network funded by CEPI is sold to one or more third parties (which could include sales credited under the Gavi Settlement Agreement), and such sales cover our costs of manufacturing such vaccine, not including manufacturing costs funded by CEPI. The timing and amount of any loan repayments is currently uncertain.
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A summary and status of our historical COVID-19 funding developments follows:
Funding Partner Amount Additional Details
COVID-19-Influenza Combination Vaccine
Phase 2 Clinical Trial of COVID-19-Influenza Combination Vaccine
In November 2023, we shared that we previously evaluated 11 discrete CIC formulations in our Phase 2 dose-confirming trial, in which we then selected the CIC dose formulation and remain on track to initiate the Phase 3 trial. We also observed a favorable reactogenicity profile with our combination vaccine that was clinically indistinguishable from the licensed influenza vaccine comparators. This preliminary data suggests that our technology can increase the antigen load while maintaining acceptable tolerability. Pending regulatory concurrence from the U.S. FDA, we expect to initiate a pivotal Phase 3 trial for our CIC vaccine candidate in the second half of 2024, with potential accelerated approval and launch in the fall of 2026.
In May 2023, we announced preliminary topline data from our Phase 2 trial for CIC, stand-alone influenza, and high-dose COVID-19 vaccine candidates. All three vaccine candidates contain our Matrix-MTM adjuvant, showed preliminary robust immune responses, reassuring safety profiles, and reactogenicity that was comparable to the licensed influenza vaccine comparator arms. The Phase 2 dose-confirming randomized, observer-blinded trial evaluated the safety and effectiveness (immunogenicity) of different formulations of the CIC and influenza vaccine candidates, and higher doses of Novavax's COVID-19 vaccine in 1,575 adults aged 50 through 80 years. The CIC vaccine candidate achieved both anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunoglobulin G (IgG) and neutralizing levels comparable to our prototype vaccine. In addition, several of the combination formulations achieved responses to both SARS-CoV-2 and to the four homologous influenza strains that were comparable to the reference comparators, supporting their prioritization for advanced development.
High-dose COVID-19 Vaccine Study
Study 205: In October 2023, we completed enrollment in a Phase 2 trial to evaluate our high-dose COVID-19 vaccine for annual vaccination in 994 adults ages 50 years and older. The trial will compare immunogenicity levels of 5 micrograms of our prototype vaccine (NVX-CoV2373) against 5 micrograms, 35 micrograms, and 50 micrograms of our updated vaccine (NVX-CoV2601) that are matched with different levels of adjuvant. Data from this trial is intended to potentially support further development of a higher-dose formulation for older adults, similar to that of influenza vaccines. Topline results are expected in the first quarter of 2024.
Malaria
Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by a parasite that infects mosquitos and is subsequently transmitted to humans. According to the 2023 WHO World Malaria Report, in 2022, there were an estimated 249 million malaria cases and 608,000 malaria-related deaths worldwide. We believe malaria has the potential to be preventable through our partner-led R21/Matrix-MTM adjuvant malaria vaccine, which in 2023 received authorization in several countries and prequalification by the WHO.
R21/Matrix-MTM AdjuvantMalaria Vaccine
R21/Matrix-MTM adjuvant malaria vaccine, formulated with our Matrix-MTM adjuvant is developed by our partner, the Jenner Institute, University of Oxford, and manufactured by SIIPL. We have an agreement with SIIPL related to its manufacture of R21/Matrix-MTM adjuvant malaria vaccine under which SIIPL purchases our Matrix-MTM adjuvant for use in development activities at cost and for commercial purposes at a tiered commercial supply price, and pays a royalty in the single-
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to low-double digit range based on vaccine sales for a period of 15 years after the first commercial sale of the vaccine in each country.
Phase 3 Clinical Trial of R21/Matrix-MTM Adjuvant Malaria Vaccine
R21/Matrix-MTM adjuvant malaria vaccine is being evaluated in an ongoing Phase 3 trial conducted by our partner, the Jenner Institute, University of Oxford. In February 2024, peer-reviewed results from the Phase 3 efficacy trial were published in The Lancet reporting R21/Matrix-MTM adjuvant malaria vaccine has a well-tolerated safety profile and offers high-level efficacy against clinical malaria in African children at sites of both seasonal and perennial transmission. This Phase 3 trial enrolled 4,800 children aged 5 to 36 months across five sites in four African countries with differing malaria transmission intensities and seasonality. The trial demonstrated efficacy of 75% when administered prior to the high transmission season during the 12 months following a three-dose series and efficacy of 68% when administered in an age-based schedule in regions where malaria is present perennially during the 12 months following the first three doses. This R21/Matrix-MTM adjuvant malaria vaccine is a low-cost vaccine and has the potential to make a substantial contribution to reducing the burden of malaria disease and deaths in sub-Saharan Africa.
R21/Matrix-MTM Adjuvant Malaria Vaccine Regulatory and Licensure
In December 2023, the WHO announced it prequalified the R21/Matrix-MTM adjuvant malaria vaccine to prevent malaria disease in children caused by the P. falciparum parasite in endemic areas. Prequalification status enables United Nations agencies to procure the vaccine for eligible countries and will enable rollout of the vaccine in mid-2024. The WHO recommended that the R21/Matrix-MTM adjuvant malaria vaccine be administered in a four-dose schedule beginning at five months of age.
In July 2023, R21/Matrix-MTM adjuvant malaria vaccine received authorization in Burkina Faso and in April 2023, received authorizations in Ghana and Nigeria.
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License and Collaboration
Our commitment to partnering globally in efforts to further develop our COVID-19 Vaccine is demonstrated through our partnership with SIIPL to supply COVID-19 vaccines to India and low- and middle-income countries.
Licensee Marketed Under Territories
Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited NuvaxovidTM •Japan•South Korea
SK bioscience Co., Ltd. NuvaxovidTM •South Korea(1)
(1) SK bioscience also has non-exclusive licenses in Thailand and Vietnam.
A summary of our license and collaboration agreements follows:
SIIPL
We previously granted SIIPL exclusive and non-exclusive licenses for the development, co-formulation, filling and finishing, registration, and commercialization of our prototype vaccine, our proprietary COVID-19 variant antigen candidate(s), and our CIC vaccine candidate. SIIPL agreed to purchase our Matrix-MTM adjuvant, and we granted SIIPL a non-exclusive license to manufacture the antigen drug substance component of our COVID-19 Vaccine in SIIPL’s licensed territory solely for use in the manufacture of COVID-19 Vaccine. Novavax and SIIPL equally split the revenue from SIIPL’s sale of COVID-19 Vaccine in its licensed territory, net of agreed costs. We also have a supply agreement with SIIPL and SLS under which SIIPL and SLS supply us with prototype vaccine, our proprietary COVID-19 variant antigen candidate(s), and our CIC vaccine candidate for commercialization and sale in certain territories, as well as a contract development manufacture agreement with SLS, under which SLS manufactures and supplies finished vaccine product to us using antigen drug substance and Matrix-MTM adjuvant supplied by us. In March 2020, we entered into an agreement with SIIPL that granted SIIPL a non-exclusive license for the use of Matrix-MTM adjuvant supplied by us to develop, manufacture, and commercialize R21/Matrix-MTM adjuvant, a malaria vaccine created by the Jenner Institute, University of Oxford (“R21/Matrix-MTM”). R21/Matrix-MTM adjuvant vaccine has been licensed to SIIPL for commercialization and in December 2023 received prequalification by the WHO. Under the agreement, SIIPL purchases our Matrix-MTM adjuvant for use in development activities at cost and for commercial purposes at a tiered commercial supply price, and pays a royalty in the single-to low- double-digit range based on vaccine sales for a period of 15 years after the first commercial sale of the vaccine in each country.
Takeda
We have a collaboration and license agreement with Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (“Takeda”) under which we granted Takeda an exclusive license to develop, manufacture, and commercialize the Company’s COVID-19 Vaccine in Japan. Under the agreement, Takeda purchases Matrix-MTM adjuvant from us to manufacture doses of COVID-19 Vaccine, and we are entitled to receive milestone and sales-based royalty payments from Takeda based on the achievement of certain development and commercial milestones, as well as a portion of net profits from the sale of COVID-19 Vaccine. In September 2021, Takeda finalized an agreement with the Government of Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare ("MHLW") for the purchase of 150 million doses of its prototype vaccine. In February 2023, MHLW canceled the remainder of doses under its agreement with Takeda. As a result, it is uncertain whether we will receive future sales-based royalty payments from Takeda under the terms and conditions of their current collaboration and licensing agreement.
SK bioscience
We have a collaboration and license agreement with SK bioscience to manufacture and commercialize our prototype vaccine for sale to the governments of South Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam. SK bioscience pays a royalty in the low to middle double-digit range.
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Manufacturing and Supply
We are committed to discovering, developing, and commercializing innovative vaccines to prevent serious infectious diseases and are exploring a number of combination vaccine candidates, including a CIC vaccine, directly and by leveraging our strategic global partnerships. In 2021 and 2020, we established a global supply chain and worldwide partnerships to support the commercialization of our prototype vaccine. In 2023 and 2022, we modified and continued to assess our manufacturing needs and our global manufacturing footprint consistent with our contractual obligations to supply, and anticipated demand for COVID-19 Vaccine.
A summary of our key manufacturing and supply arrangements follows:
Matrix-MTM Adjuvant
We manufacture our proprietary saponin-based Matrix-MTM adjuvant at our Novavax AB facility in Uppsala, Sweden. We also have contract manufacturing arrangements with AGC Biologics and the Polypeptide Group to provide contract development and manufacturing services, supplying us with large-scale production of Matrix-MTM adjuvant.
Antigen Component of COVID-19 Vaccine
We manufacture the antigen component of our COVID-19 Vaccine at our Novavax CZ facility in the Czech Republic.
We have a supply agreement with SIIPL and SLS, an affiliate of SIIPL, for the manufacture of the antigen component of COVID-19 Vaccine and the co-formulation, fill, and finishing of the finished vaccine product. In May and August 2022, we expanded our license and supply arrangements with SIIPL to include our proprietary COVID-19 variant antigen candidate(s), and our CIC vaccine candidate, so that SIIPL can manufacture and commercialize a vaccine targeting COVID-19 variants, including the Omicron subvariants, and CIC vaccine, and supply such vaccines to us.
Finished COVID-19 Vaccine
In addition to the supply agreement with SIIPL and SLS for the co-formulation, fill, and finishing of the finished vaccine product, we have a contract development manufacture agreement with SLS, pursuant to which SLS will manufacture and supply finished vaccine product to us using antigen drug substance and Matrix-MTM adjuvant supplied by us. Currently, we depend primarily on this supply agreement for co-formulation, filling and finishing (other than in Europe) and our service agreement with PCI Pharma Services (“PCI”) for finishing in Europe.
Competition in COVID-19 and Combination Vaccines
The vaccine market is intensely competitive, characterized by rapid technological progress. Our technology is based upon utilizing the baculovirus expression system in insect cells to make recombinant vaccines. Our Matrix-MTM 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. We believe this baculovirus expression system with our nanoparticle configuration formulated with our Matrix-MTM adjuvant offers many advantages compared to other technologies, such as enabling dose-sparing effects and refrigerator temperature storage that is well suited for developing COVID-19 and combination vaccines, as well as vaccines against a number of other infectious diseases.
A number of vaccine manufacturers, research institutions, and other organizations have developed a vaccine for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. A variety of different vaccine technologies are being studied, including nucleic acid (RNA/DNA), viral vectors, live attenuated or inactivated, and protein-based vaccines. Novavax is the first protein-based COVID-19 vaccine that received EUA by the U.S. FDA and a CMA by EMA in the European Union. As of February 2024, Novavax is one of three manufacturers that have a COVID-19 vaccine that has received authorization by the U.S. FDA for the 2023-2024 vaccination season, with the other manufacturers being Pfizer and Moderna. As of February 2024, the U.S. FDA has granted Pfizer and Moderna BLA approval for their updated vaccines in individuals 12 years and older and EUA for their updated vaccines in individuals 6 months to 11 years, while Novavax received EUA by the U.S. FDA for our updated vaccine in individuals 12 years and older. Based on our COVID-19 vaccine and its high efficacy against both the original and variant strains and its well-tolerated profile demonstrated in clinical trials, including two pivotal Phase 3 trials in the UK and U.S., we believe our vaccine candidate will continue to play an important role in addressing this global public health crisis.
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Additionally, we believe that our platform is well suited for combination vaccines, for example influenza and COVID-19. Following our Phase 2 trial results, we have selected a CIC dose formulation and pending regulatory concurrence are on track to initiate a pivotal Phase 3 trial in the second half of 2024, with potential accelerated approval and launch in the fall of 2026. Other manufacturers, including Moderna and Pfizer, are in Phase 3 clinical trials with COVID-19-influenza combination candidates and have publicly disclosed an expected launch date as early as 2025.
In general, competition among pharmaceutical products is based in part on product efficacy, safety, reliability, availability, price, and patent position. An important factor is the relative timing of the market introduction of our products and our competitors’ products. Accordingly, the speed with which we can develop products, complete the clinical trials and approval processes, and supply commercial quantities of the products to the market is an important competitive factor. Our competitive position also may depend upon our ability to show differentiation with a product that is more efficacious and/or less expensive and quicker to manufacture. Other factors affecting our competitive position include our ability to attract and retain qualified personnel, obtain patent protection or otherwise develop proprietary products or processes, and secure sufficient capital resources for the lengthy period between technological conception and commercial sale.
Patents and Proprietary Rights
We generally seek patent protection for our technology and product candidates in the U.S. and abroad. The patent position of biotechnology and pharmaceutical firms generally is highly uncertain and involves complex legal and factual questions. Our success will depend, in part, on whether we can:
•obtain patents to protect our own technologies and product candidates;
•obtain licenses to use the technologies of third-parties, which may be protected by patents;
•protect our trade secrets and know-how; and
•operate without infringing the intellectual property and proprietary rights of others.
Patent Rights; Licenses
We have intellectual property (patents, licenses, know-how) related to our vaccines, manufacturing processes, and other technologies. Currently, we have or have rights to over 630 U.S. and foreign patents and patent applications relating to vaccines and vaccine-related technologies.
Patents related to our Virus-Like Particle (“VLP”) program include U.S. Patent No. 7,763,450, which covers, in part, the use of influenza gene sequences for high-yield production of consistent influenza VLP vaccines to protect against current and future seasonal and pandemic strains of influenza viruses. Corresponding European patent, European Patent No. 1644037 also covers this technology. U.S. Patent Nos. 8,080,255, 8,551,756, 8,506,967 and 8,592,197 are directed to methods of producing VLPs and inducing substantial immunity to an influenza virus infection by administering VLPs comprising HA and NA proteins, and our M1 protein derived from the avian influenza strain, A/Indonesia/5/05. Certain claims also encompass similar methods and compositions where the M1 protein is from a different strain of influenza virus than the influenza HA protein and the influenza NA protein. Related patent protection in Europe is provided by European Patent No. 2343084, which covers, in part, vaccine compositions containing VLPs that contain M1, HA, and NA proteins. Our VLP patent portfolio contains many other patents, including U.S. Patent Nos. 8,951,537, 8,992,939, 9,144,607, 9,050,290, 9,180,180, 9,381,239, 9,464,276, 9,474,799, and other patents in multiple ex-U.S. jurisdictions.
In addition to our focus on vaccine programs, we also pursue patent protection for our Matrix Adjuvant program. Issued U.S. Patent Nos. 7,838,019, 9,205,147, 9,901,634, 8,821,881, and 10,729,764 provide examples of patents related to our Matrix Adjuvant program.
We pursue patents related to our COVID-19 vaccine program, including to NVX-CoV2373, our COVID-19 vaccine candidate. Issued U.S. Patent Nos. 10,953,089, 11,253,586, 11,541,112 provide examples of patents related to our COVID-19 program.
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We also have four pending PCT applications directed to our COVID program (PCT/US2022/020974, PCT/US2022/080700, PCT/US2022/082331 and PCT/US2022/027465) and two pending PCT applications directed to our malaria program (PCT/US2022/078665 and PCT/US2022/080334).
We continue to prepare, file, and prosecute patent applications to provide broad and strong protection of our proprietary rights related to our vaccine products and our adjuvant program.
The Federal Technology Transfer Act of 1986 and related statutory guidance encourages the dissemination of science and technology innovation. While our expired contract with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“DHHS”), Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority provided us with the right to retain ownership in our inventions that may have arisen during performance of that contract, with respect to certain other collaborative research efforts with the U.S. government, certain developments and results that may have commercial potential are to be freely published, not treated as confidential, and we may be required to negotiate a license to developments and results in order to commercialize products. There can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully obtain any such license at a reasonable cost, or that such development and results will not be made available to our competitors on an exclusive or non-exclusive basis.
Trade Secrets
We also rely significantly on trade secret protection and confidentiality agreements to protect our interests. It is our policy to require employees, consultants, contractors, manufacturers, collaborators, and other advisors to execute confidentiality agreements upon the commencement of employment, consulting, or collaborative relationships with us. We also require confidentiality agreements from any entity that is to receive confidential information from us. With respect to employees, consultants, and contractors, the agreements generally provide that all inventions made by the individual while rendering services to us shall be assigned to us as our property.
Human Capital
Employees
As of February 23, 2024, we have 1,543 full-time employees, of whom approximately 9% hold M.D. or Ph.D. degrees and approximately 20% hold other advanced degrees. Of our total workforce, approximately 68% of employees are engaged primarily in research, development, and manufacturing activities and approximately 32% of employees are engaged primarily in executive, business development, commercial, finance and accounting, legal, and administrative functions. Except for certain employees located in Europe, who are covered by collective agreements with trade unions pursuant to local law, none of our employees are represented by a labor union or works council and none of our employees have entered into a collective bargaining agreement with us.
To nurture, grow, and treat our employees fairly is an integral part of our culture. We are proud to have won a Silver Stevie Award in 2023 for Great Employer in the Pharmaceutical category. We believe this award reflects our investment in an exceptional work culture.
Compensation and Benefits; Health and Wellness
Our total rewards package is designed to attract, engage, motivate, and retain top talent. We strive to provide compensation, benefits, and services that help meet the varying needs of our employees. Our generous total rewards package for employees in the U.S. includes competitive market pay and comprehensive benefits, including insurance to protect and maintain health; income protection through our short- and long-term disability programs and life insurance; adoption assistance and paid parental leave programs; and services to assist in balancing work and personal life, such as backup child, adult, and elder care, and financial well-being programs, including monthly financial wellness seminars, one-on-one financial planning sessions, and debt and credit management support.
Our wellness initiatives include a monthly newsletter, which highlights organizations and partners, tools, and resources intended to help our employees lead healthier and happier lives. We offer several digital apps that allow our employees to connect to an online licensed therapist or to access activities that are designed to reduce stress and anxiety and increase mindfulness and emotional well-being. We have a robust employee assistance program for employees to access support for a variety of life events.
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In addition, we offer the majority of employees the benefit of equity ownership in the Company through equity grants or participation in our employee stock purchase plan. We believe that equity compensation has been, and will continue to be, a critical component of our compensation package because it develops a culture of ownership among our employees and aligns their interests with the interests of our stockholders.
Recruitment, Development, and Training
The attraction, development, and retention of employees is a critical factor for our success. We utilize a variety of recruitment vehicles to source top talent, including strategic partnerships with search firms, leveraging social media channels, and a robust employee referral program. In 2023, we launched the Leading@Novavax competency model to define great leadership. At Novavax, everyone is a leader and this model and associated tools, resources, and programs develops leadership skills at all levels of the organization.
To support the growth and advancement of our employees, we offer tuition and continuing education reimbursement, and an array of training and professional development opportunities, including on-the-spot coaching with executive coaches and access to the LinkedIn Learning library of over 16,000 on-demand video tutorials that address skills, knowledge, and behaviors related to business, leadership, technology, and innovation. In the last 12 months, videos were viewed and completed over 40,000 times by our employees. In addition, approximately 135 employees have participated in spot coaching. We provide an Executive Development Program for employees identified as having high potential and for employees who have been identified as potential successors to leadership positions through our talent review and succession planning process. Our Executive Development Program includes executive coaching engagements and leadership development programs designed to strengthen our leadership bench and accelerate and prepare our top talent for future growth. The Executive Development Program includes a diverse and global group of 34 employees. Professional development learning series are available to all employees and focus on self-awareness, collaboration, hybrid working, leadership, and business acumen.
Internal Communications
We employ a variety of tools to facilitate open and direct communication, including global forums with executives, employee surveys, and engagement through forums and committees. Our executive leadership team recognizes the importance of increased employee engagement to the success of each individual’s career and to our success as a whole.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Our culture of diversity, equity and inclusion (“DEI”) helps us to create, develop and leverage the strengths of our workforce to meet our growth objectives. Our multi-year DEI roadmap includes three pillars:
•Embed DEI into our hiring decisions and processes.
•Enable our employees, who we refer to as our SuperNovas, to live our values and thrive in a culture of inclusion.
•Equip our leaders and SuperNovas with the understanding, capability, education, tools and resources on DEI.
We acknowledge global DEI-related observances and we invest in training to build an inclusive culture and develop our leaders to access different perspectives when generating ideas and decision making. In 2023, we also made progress in increasing representation for women and minorities at the Executive level. We commenced and completed the reviews of three people processes, namely, Talent Acquisition, Promotion and Performance Management. We also have intentionally incorporated DEI principles into our Novavax Leadership Model. We believe our multi-year DEI strategy and roadmap will enable us to continuously improve and excel.
Empowering our Employees
In 2023, Novavax sought to motivate and empower employees through a variety of programs:
•Made charitable donations in employees’ name to other mission-driven organizations in the U.S., Sweden and Czech Republic through employee match and direct giving.
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•Furthered personal and professional development by providing tuition and education reimbursement and providing access to professional coaching and Executive Development programming for high-potential employees.
Environmental, Social, and Governance
In addition to the DEI and human capital initiatives described above, a range of other initiatives related to environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) are underway. These include environmental sustainability, innovating for vaccine access and improving global health, empowering our employees and governing responsibly. We believe that our multi-stakeholder approach through these focus areas is critical to our long-term success and enhances value for our shareholders. Examples of initiatives supportive of these focus areas include the following:
Environmental Sustainability
•Resource management and greenhouse gas reduction strategy, which includes tracking emissions.
•An approach to Procurement that incorporates sustainability metrics into vendor evaluation and selection rubrics.
•Lease of approximately 170,000 square foot property in Gaithersburg, Maryland at 700 Quince Orchard Road, certified LEED Silver and designed with energy efficiency and sustainability measures in place.
•Conserving water (e.g., by replacing single-serve water bottles with refillable options) and monitoring energy use across multi-use leased and owned facilities.
•Award of WELL certifications at multiple leased facilities.
•Sustainable saponin sourcing from our partner Desert King, the key supplier of the Quillaja saponaria (Soapbark), a tree native to central Chile. Saponin is used to produce our Matrix-MTM adjuvant.
Innovating for Vaccine Access and Improving Global Health
•R21/Matrix-MTM malaria vaccine, developed by the University of Oxford and its Jenner Institute and the Serum Institute of India, and formulated with our Matrix-M adjuvant is now approved in three countries and prequalified by the WHO.
•Advocacy efforts to build a bureau of third-party organizations who are registered with the CDC to provide public commentary on behalf of Novavax, including the National Health Council, Vaccinate Your Families and the National Black Nurses Association.
•Efforts focused on clinical trial diversity (economic, race, age).
Affordability
•Focused on seeking to foster an environment with no barriers to use of our vaccines due to either physical availability or pricing of the product.
•100% returns for certain vaccinators offered with Novavax assuming all financial risk related to returns.
•In the U.S., participated in the Vaccines for Children (VFC) Program, which serves as a critical safety net for children under 19 who are Medicaid-eligible, uninsured, underinsured or American Indian/Alaskan Native.
•In the U.S., participated in the 317 Program, which serves uninsured and underinsured adults and supports Federal Qualified Health Centers that potentially vaccinate uninsured and underinsured patients.
•In the U.S., participated in the “Bridge Access Program For COVID Vaccines and Treatments” to provide access to COVID-19 vaccine option for adults without other sources of coverage.
Governing Responsibly
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•Policy remains in place to comply with all government and regulatory agency requirements and industry standards with good laboratory practices (“GLP”), current good manufacturing practices (“cGMP”) and good distribution practices (“GDP”).
•Practice responsible animal welfare practices including searching for non-animal alternatives whenever possible, abiding by the 3R-principle (Reduce, Refine, Replace), working with accredited animal facilities with regional independent animal experimentation ethical review boards approving all experiments.
•“The NovaCode,” a robust handbook of written standards and business ethics policies remains in place.
•Maintain a global hotline for reporting compliance concerns with established internal investigating protocols.
•Maintain a Strategic Compliance Governance Committee to help our partners comply with U.S. regulations.
•Chief Compliance Officer elevated to report to the CEO with a dotted line to the Audit Committee.
•Hold company-wide business ethics training, guidance, and raw materials review.
•Keep an anti-bribery and anti-corruption policy in place to ensure a transparent and ethical business model.
•Standard operating procedures guide decision-making.
•Abide by robust cybersecurity standards, meeting elevated government contracting requirements.
•Chief Safety Officer continues to build out a robust epidemiology benefit / risk group to better understand the safety profiles of different vaccines.
•Ongoing employee training for updated Safety Policy.
Government Regulations
The development, production, and marketing of biological products, which include the vaccine candidates being developed by Novavax or our collaborators, are subject to regulation for safety, efficacy, and quality by numerous governmental authorities in the U.S. and other countries. We focus on the U.S. regulatory process and the standards imposed by the U.S. FDA, the International Council for Harmonisation (“ICH”), and other agencies because we believe meeting U.S. and ICH standards generally allows us to also satisfy regulatory agencies’ standards in other countries where we intend to do business. However, we are mindful that expectations in some venues, notably in the European Union and the United Kingdom (in relation to Great Britain), differ to some degree and we take proactive steps to address such differences by maintaining regular filings and correspondence and attending regular meetings with many other non-U.S. regulatory agencies. In the U.S., the development, manufacturing, and marketing of human pharmaceuticals and vaccines are subject to extensive regulation under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and biological products are subject to regulation under provisions of that act and the Public Health Service Act. The U.S. FDA not only assesses the safety and efficacy of these products, but it also regulates, among other things, the testing, manufacture, labeling, storage, record-keeping, advertising, and promotion of such products. The process of obtaining U.S. FDA licensure for a new vaccine is costly and time-consuming.
Vaccine clinical development in most countries follows the same general regulatory pathway as drugs and other biologics. Before applying for U.S. FDA licensure to market any new vaccine candidate, we expect to first submit an investigational new drug application (“IND”) that explains to the U.S. FDA, among other things, the results of preclinical toxicology testing conducted in laboratory animals, the method of manufacture, quality control tests for release, the stability of the investigational product, and our proposed plans for human testing. At this stage, the U.S. FDA decides whether it is reasonably safe to move forward with testing the vaccine candidate in humans. We must then conduct Phase 1 clinical trials and larger-scale Phase 2 and 3 clinical trials that demonstrate the safety, immunogenicity, and efficacy of our vaccine candidate to the satisfaction of the U.S. FDA. Following successful completion of all three phases of clinical development, a BLA can be submitted to the U.S. FDA requesting licensure of the vaccine for marketing based on the vaccine’s safety and efficacy. Similar pathways exist in Europe and other geographies.
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The U.S. FDA will only approve a BLA if the vaccine is demonstrated to be safe, pure, and potent. During the U.S. FDA’s review of a BLA, the proposed manufacturing facility undergoes a pre-approval inspection during which the U.S. FDA examines in detail the production of the vaccine, the manufacturing facility, and the quality documentation related to the vaccine. Vaccine licensure also requires the provision of adequate product labeling to allow health care providers to understand the vaccine’s proper use, including its potential benefits and risks, to communicate with patients and parents, and to safely deliver the vaccine to the public. Until a vaccine is given to the general population, all potential adverse events cannot be anticipated. Thus, the U.S. FDA typically requires Phase 4 post-marketing clinical trials for vaccines after licensure to continue gathering safety, and sometimes effectiveness/efficacy data in the indicated and additional populations.
The Commissioner of the U.S. FDA may, following the issuance of an appropriate declaration by the Secretary of the DHHS, issue an EUA that would permit the use of an unapproved medical product or unapproved use of an approved medical product to diagnose, treat, or prevent serious or life-threatening diseases or conditions when there are no adequate, approved, and available alternatives. When issuing an EUA, the U.S. FDA imposes conditions of authorization, with which the EUA holder must comply. Such conditions include, but may not be limited to, compliance with labeling, distribution of materials designed to ensure proper use, reporting obligations, and restrictions on advertising and promotion. The EUA is only effective for the duration of the declaration issued by the Secretary of the DHHS that EUAs are appropriate. The U.S. FDA may also revise or revoke the EUA sooner if the criteria for issuance are no longer met or other circumstances make a revision or revocation appropriate to protect the public health or safety. For example, an EUA may be revoked when the U.S. FDA determines that the underlying public health threat no longer exists or warrants such authorization, or for reasons such as significant adverse inspectional findings, reports of adverse events linked to or suspected of being caused by the EUA product, or newly emerging data that may demonstrate the product may not be effective. An EUA is separate from and not dependent on the issuance of a public health emergency (“PHE”) by the Secretary of the DHHS. Therefore, although the COVID-19 PHE expired on May 11, 2023, that expiration will not terminate EUAs issued by the U.S. FDA.
In order to ensure continuing safety, the U.S. FDA and most other non-U.S. based regulatory agencies continue to oversee the production of vaccines even after the vaccine and manufacturing processes are approved. For example, monitoring of the vaccine and of production activities, including periodic facility inspections, must continue as long as the manufacturer holds a license for the product. Manufacturers may also be required to submit the results of their own tests for potency, safety, and purity for each vaccine lot, if requested by the relevant regulatory agency. They may also be required to submit samples of each vaccine lot to the agency for testing.
In addition to obtaining U.S. FDA licensure for each product, each domestic manufacturing establishment must be registered with the U.S. FDA, is subject to U.S. FDA inspection, and must comply with current Good Manufacturing Practices (“GMP”) regulations. To supply products for use either in the U.S. or outside the U.S., including clinical trials, U.S. and foreign manufacturing establishments, including third-party facilities, must comply with GMP regulations and are subject to periodic inspection by the U.S. FDA or by corresponding regulatory agencies in their home country.
The EU and the UK similarly provide a faster means to achieve approval by offering CMA to fulfil unmet medical needs. CMAs are granted with the proviso of obtaining additional comprehensive data to confirm the benefit/risk so that the MA will eventually become unconditional. The benefit to public health of the immediate availability on the market of the medicinal product concerned should outweigh the risk inherent in the fact that additional data are still required.
The U.S. FDA has several programs designed to expedite the development and approval of drugs and biological products intended to treat serious or life-threatening diseases or conditions, including fast track designation, breakthrough therapy designation, priority review designation, and accelerated approval. First, the U.S. FDA may designate a product for Fast Track review if it is intended, whether alone or in combination with one or more other products, for the treatment of a serious or life-threatening disease or condition and demonstrates the potential to address unmet medical needs for such a disease or condition. For Fast Track products, sponsors may have more frequent interactions with the U.S. FDA and the U.S. FDA may initiate review of sections of a Fast Track product’s application before the application is complete. The U.S. FDA granted Fast Track Designation for our prototype vaccine in November 2020 and for our recombinant quadrivalent seasonal influenza vaccine candidate, in January 2020.
Second, a product may be designated as a Breakthrough Therapy if it is intended, either alone or in combination with one or more other products, to treat a serious or life-threatening disease or condition and preliminary clinical evidence indicates that the product may demonstrate substantial improvement over existing therapies on one or more clinically significant endpoints. The U.S. FDA may hold meetings with the sponsor throughout the development process, provide timely advice to
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the product sponsor regarding development and approval, involve more senior staff in the review process, assign a cross-disciplinary project lead for the review team, and take other steps to design the clinical trials in an efficient manner.
Third, the U.S. FDA may designate a product for priority review if it is a product that treats a serious disease or life-threatening condition and, if approved, would provide a significant improvement in safety or effectiveness over available therapies. Significant improvement may be illustrated by evidence of increased effectiveness in the treatment of a condition, elimination or substantial reduction of a treatment-limiting product reaction, documented enhancement of patient compliance that may lead to improvement in serious outcomes, and evidence of safety and effectiveness in a new subpopulation. A priority designation is intended to direct overall attention and resources to the evaluation of such applications, and, for a drug product (including a vaccine), to shorten the U.S. FDA’s goal for taking action on a marketing application from ten months to six months.
Fourth, a product may be eligible for accelerated approval, if it treats a serious or life-threatening condition and generally provides a meaningful advantage over available therapies. In addition, it must demonstrate an effect on a surrogate endpoint that is reasonably likely to predict clinical benefit or on a clinical endpoint that can be measured earlier than irreversible morbidity or mortality (“IMM”) that is reasonably likely to predict an effect on IMM or other clinical benefit. As a condition of approval, the U.S. FDA may require that a sponsor of a drug or biologic receiving accelerated approval perform adequate and well-controlled post-marketing clinical trials to confirm efficacy using a clinically meaningful endpoint, thereby confirming efficacy observed pre-approval using a surrogate endpoint. In June 2019, we announced that the U.S. FDA acknowledged that the accelerated approval pathway is available for our recombinant quadrivalent seasonal influenza vaccine candidate.
In addition to regulatory approvals that must be obtained in the U.S., an investigational product is also subject to regulatory approval in other countries in which it is intended to be marketed. No such product can be marketed in a country until the regulatory authorities of that country have approved an appropriate marketing application. U.S.FDA licensure does not guarantee approval by other regulatory authorities. In addition, in many countries, the government is involved in the pricing of the product. In such cases, the pricing review period often begins after market approval is granted.
We are also subject to regulation under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the Environmental Protection Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and other present and potential federal, state, or local regulations, including national and local regulations that govern our facilities in Sweden, the Czech Republic and Switzerland. These and other laws govern our use, handling, and disposal of various biological and chemical substances used in, and waste generated by, our operations. Our research and development involves the controlled use of hazardous materials, chemicals, and viruses. Although we believe that our safety procedures for handling and disposing of such materials comply with the standards prescribed by state and federal regulations, the risk of accidental contamination or injury from these materials cannot be completely eliminated. In the event of such an accident, we could be held liable for any damages that result and any such liability could exceed our resources. Additionally, for formulations containing controlled substances, we are subject to Drug Enforcement Act regulations.
In both domestic and foreign markets, sales of any products for which we receive regulatory approval for commercial sale will depend in part on the availability of reimbursement from third-party payers. Third-party payers include government authorities or programs, private health insurers (including managed care plans), and other organizations. These third-party payers are increasingly challenging the price and examining the cost-effectiveness of medical products and services. In addition, significant uncertainty exists as to the reimbursement status of newly approved healthcare products. We may need to conduct expensive pharmacoeconomic studies in order to demonstrate the cost-effectiveness of our products. There may be significant delays in obtaining coverage and reimbursement for newly approved drugs, and coverage may be more limited than the indications for which the product is approved by the U.S. FDA or similar regulatory authorities outside the United States. Our product candidates may not be considered cost-effective at certain prices. Adequate third-party reimbursement may not be available in certain markets to enable us to maintain price levels sufficient to realize an appropriate return on our investment in product development. Third-party payors may also control access to, or manage utilization of, our products with various utilization management techniques. Decreases in third-party reimbursement for our product candidates or a decision by a third-party payer to not cover our product candidates could reduce physician utilization of our products and have a material adverse effect on our sales, results of operations, and financial condition.
Within the U.S., if we obtain appropriate approval in the future to market any of our product candidates, those products could potentially be covered by various government health benefit programs, as well as purchased by government agencies. The participation in such programs or the sale of products to such agencies is subject to regulation. In exchange for
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coverage, we may be obligated to provide rebates or offer discounts under government health programs or to government and private purchasers.
The U.S. and state governments continue to propose and pass legislation designed to reform delivery of, or payment for, health care, including initiatives to reduce the cost of healthcare. In March 2010, the U.S. Congress enacted the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act (“ACA”), which includes changes to the coverage and reimbursement of drug products under government health care programs. Since its enactment, there have been several executive, judicial and Congressional challenges to certain aspects of the ACA, and additional challenges and amendments to the ACA may reduce the profitability of drug products. Adoption of price controls and cost-containment measures and adoption of more restrictive policies in jurisdictions with existing controls and measures could further limit our net revenue and results.
Other legislative changes have been proposed and adopted in the United States since the ACA was enacted that impact drug pricing. For example, through the process created by the Budget Control Act of 2011, there are automatic reductions of Medicare payments to providers of up to 2% per fiscal year, which went into effect in April 2013 and will remain in effect through 2030. Under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARPA”), Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (“CHIP”) programs must cover without cost-sharing COVID-19 vaccines for most Medicaid and CHIP enrollees through September 30, 2024. After such date, under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (“IRA”), Medicaid and CHIP programs will be required to cover without cost-sharing only U.S. FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccines for adults as recommended by the ACIP.
There has been considerable public and government scrutiny in the U.S. of pharmaceutical pricing and proposals to address the perceived high cost of pharmaceuticals. There have also been several recent state legislative efforts to address drug costs, which generally have focused on increasing transparency around drug costs or limiting drug prices or price increases. Adoption of new legislation at the federal or state level could affect demand for, or pricing of, our product candidates if approved for sale. It is also possible that additional governmental action will be taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We cannot predict the ultimate content, timing, or effect of any federal and state reform efforts. There is no assurance that federal or state health care reform will not adversely affect our future business and financial results.
Similarly, in many countries outside the U.S., pharmaceutical pricing is subject to regulatory control, particularly in countries where healthcare is provided mainly through government funding or government backed insurers. In such countries governmental organizations will generally determine firstly if a medicinal product might be reimbursed and secondly the maximum price payable.
Within the U.S., we may be subject to various federal and state laws pertaining to health care “fraud and abuse,” including anti-kickback laws and false claims laws, for activities related to future sales of any of our product candidates that may in the future receive regulatory and marketing approval. Anti-kickback laws generally prohibit a pharmaceutical manufacturer from soliciting, offering, receiving, or paying any remuneration to generate business, including the purchase, prescription, or use of a particular drug. Although the specific provisions of these laws vary, their scope is generally broad and there may not be regulations, guidance, or court decisions that apply the laws to particular industry practices. There is therefore a possibility that our practices might be challenged under such anti-kickback laws. False claims laws, including the federal False Claims Act (“FCA”), prohibit anyone from knowingly and willingly presenting, or causing to be presented, any claims for payment for reimbursed drugs or services to third party payers (including Medicare and Medicaid) that are false or fraudulent. Our activities relating to the sale and marketing of our products may be subject to scrutiny under these laws. Violations of fraud and abuse laws may be punishable by criminal or civil sanctions, including fines and civil monetary penalties, and exclusion from federal health care programs (including Medicare and Medicaid). In the U.S., federal and state authorities are paying increased attention to enforcement of these laws within the pharmaceutical industry and private individuals have been active in alleging violations of the laws and bringing suits on behalf of the government under the FCA. If we were subject to allegations concerning, or were convicted of violating, these laws, our business could be harmed.
On November 20, 2020, the DHHS published a Final Rule entitled “Removal of Safe Harbor Protection for Rebates to Plans or PBMs Involving Prescription Pharmaceuticals and Creation of New Safe Harbor Protection,” commonly referred to as the “Rebate Rule,” which amends the federal Anti-Kickback Statute discount safe harbor by eliminating protection for price concessions, including rebates, that are offered by pharmaceutical manufacturers to plan sponsors, or pharmacy benefit managers under contract with them, under the Medicare Part D program and Medicare Advantage Plans, unless the price reduction is one required by law. The IRA will delay implementation of this Rebate Rule until 2032. This new rule could result in a change in incentives for health plans and pharmacy benefit managers in negotiating rebates and discounts with
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manufactures for preferred formulary placement. At this time, we cannot predict how these developments may impact our business and operations if our products are commercialized in the U.S.
Within the European Union and the United Kingdom, the provision of benefits or advantages to physicians to induce or encourage the prescription, recommendation, endorsement, purchase, supply, order, or use of medicinal products is prohibited. The provision of benefits or advantages to physicians is also governed by the national anti-bribery laws of EU Member States and the United Kingdom, such as the UK Bribery Act 2010. Infringement of these laws could result in substantial fines and imprisonment.
We are also subject to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”), which prohibits any U.S. individual or business from paying, offering, authorizing payment of, or offering anything of value, directly or indirectly, to any foreign official, political party, or candidate for the purpose of influencing any act or decision of the foreign entity in order to assist the individual or business in obtaining or retaining business. The FCPA also obligates companies whose securities are listed in the U.S. to comply with certain accounting provisions requiring the company to maintain books and records that accurately and fairly reflect all transactions of the corporation, including international subsidiaries, and to devise and maintain an adequate system of internal accounting controls for international operations. Compliance with the FCPA is expensive and difficult, particularly in countries in which corruption is a recognized problem. In addition, the FCPA presents particular challenges in the pharmaceutical industry, because, in many countries, hospitals are operated by the government, and doctors and other hospital employees are considered foreign officials. Certain payments to hospitals in connection with clinical trials and other work have been deemed to be improper payments to government officials and have led to FCPA enforcement actions. Various laws, regulations, and executive orders also restrict the use and dissemination outside the U.S. or the sharing with certain non-U.S. nationals of information classified for national security purposes, as well as certain products and technical data relating to those products. As we expand our presence outside the U.S., it will require us to dedicate additional resources to comply with these laws, and these laws may preclude us from developing, manufacturing, or selling certain products and product candidates outside the United States, which could limit our growth potential and increase our development costs. We cannot guarantee that we, our employees, our consultants, or our third-party contractors are or will be in compliance with all federal, state, and foreign regulations regarding bribery and corruption. Moreover, our strategic collaborators and third-party contractors located outside the U.S. may have inadequate compliance programs or may fail to respect the laws and guidance of the territories in which they operate. The failure to comply with laws governing international business practices may result in substantial civil and criminal penalties and suspension or debarment from government contracting. The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) also may suspend or bar issuers from trading securities on U.S. exchanges for violations of the FCPA’s accounting provisions. Even if we are not determined to have violated these laws, government investigations into these issues typically require the expenditure of significant resources and generate negative publicity, which could also have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
The Federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”), created additional federal criminal statutes that prohibit, among other actions, knowingly and willfully executing, or attempting to execute, a scheme to defraud any healthcare benefit program, including private third-party payors; knowingly and willfully embezzling or stealing from a healthcare benefit program; willfully obstructing a criminal investigation of a healthcare offense; and knowingly and willfully falsifying, concealing, or covering up a material fact or making any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement in connection with the delivery of or payment for healthcare benefits, items, or services. HIPAA, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (“HITECH”), and their implementing regulations, impose requirements regarding the privacy and security of individually identifiable health information, including mandatory contractual terms, for covered entities, or certain healthcare providers, health plans, and healthcare clearinghouses, and their business associates that provide services to the covered entity that involve individually identifiable health information and their subcontractors that use, disclose, or otherwise process individually identifiable health information. HITECH also increased the civil and criminal penalties that may be imposed against covered entities and business associates and gave state attorneys general new authority to file civil actions for damages or injunctions in federal courts to enforce HIPAA. While pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies are typically not directly regulated by HIPAA, our business may be indirectly impacted by HIPAA in our interactions with providers, payors, and others that have HIPAA compliance obligations. We are also subject to state and foreign laws governing the privacy and security of health or personal information such as the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) and the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”).
There also are U.S. federal transparency requirements under the Physician Payments Sunshine Act that require manufacturers of U.S. FDA-approved drugs, devices, biologics and medical supplies covered by Medicare or Medicaid to report, on an annual basis, to CMS information related to payments and other transfers of value to physicians, teaching hospitals, and certain advanced non-physician health care practitioners and physician ownership and investment interests. Some
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U.S. states have transparency laws requiring the reporting of information that differs from the scope of information reported under the federal law, which permits these additional state requirements.
Within the European Union and the United Kingdom, payments made to physicians must be publicly disclosed. Moreover, agreements with physicians must in some countries be the subject of prior notification and approval by the physician’s employer, their competent professional organization, or the regulatory authorities of the individual country. These requirements are provided in the national laws, industry codes, or professional codes of conduct, applicable in the European Union Member States. Failure to comply with these requirements could result in reputational risk, public reprimands, administrative penalties, fines, or imprisonment.
Laws and regulations have been enacted by the federal government and various states to regulate the sales and marketing practices of pharmaceutical manufacturers with marketed products. The laws and regulations generally limit financial interactions between manufacturers and health care providers and/or require disclosure to the government and public of such interactions. Many of these laws and regulations contain ambiguous requirements or require administrative guidance for implementation. Given the lack of clarity in laws and their implementation, any future activities (if we obtain approval and/or reimbursement from federal healthcare programs for our product candidates) could be subject to challenge.
Given the significant global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is possible that one or more government entities may take actions, including the U.S. government under the Defense Production Act of 1950, as amended, which could directly or indirectly have the effect of diminishing some of our rights or opportunities with respect to our COVID-19 Vaccine and the economic value of a COVID-19 vaccine to us could be limited. In addition, during a global health crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, where the spread of a disease needs to be controlled, closed or heavily regulated national borders will create challenges and potential delays in our development and production activities and may necessitate that we pursue strategies to develop and produce our vaccine candidates within self-contained national or international borders, at potentially much greater expense and with longer timeframes for public distribution.
We face an inherent risk of product liability as a result of the clinical testing of our product candidates and commercialization of our products. For example, we may be sued if any product we develop allegedly causes injury or is found to be otherwise unsuitable during product testing, manufacturing, marketing, or sale. Any such product liability claims may include allegations of defects in manufacturing, defects in design, a failure to warn of dangers inherent in the product, negligence, strict liability, and a breach of warranties. Claims could also be asserted under state consumer protection acts. If we cannot successfully defend ourselves against product liability claims, we may incur substantial liabilities or be required to limit commercialization of our product candidates. In the United States, the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (the “PREP Act”), when applicable, provides immunity for manufacturers from all claims under state or federal law for “loss” arising out of the administration or use of a “covered countermeasure.” However, injured persons may still bring a suit for “willful misconduct” against the manufacturer under some circumstances. “Covered countermeasures” include security countermeasures and “qualified pandemic or epidemic products,” including products intended to diagnose or treat pandemic or epidemic disease, such as pandemic vaccines, as well as treatments intended to address conditions caused by such products. For these immunities to apply, the Secretary of DHHS must invoke the PREP Act by issuing a declaration that a public health emergency or “credible risk” of a future public health emergency exists. On March 17, 2020, the Secretary of DHHS issued a declaration under the PREP Act and has issued subsequent amendments thereto since then to provide liability immunity for activities related to certain countermeasures against the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The current declaration will end on December 31, 2024, unless it is renewed. While we believe our products would be covered under the current PREP Act declaration, this cannot be assured.
Also, there can be no assurance that the Secretary of the DHHS will make other declarations in the future that cover any of our other product candidates or that the U.S. Congress will not act in the future to reduce coverage under the PREP Act or to repeal it altogether. If product liability lawsuits are brought against us, we may incur substantial liabilities and may be required to limit commercialization of our product candidates.
Availability of Information
Our website address is www.novavax.com. We make available, free of charge and through our website, our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and our other filings with the SEC, and any amendments to any such reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, as soon as reasonably practicable after filed with or furnished to the SEC. The SEC maintains an Internet site
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that contains reports, proxy, and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC at www.sec.gov.
We use our website (www.novavax.com) as a means of disclosing material non-public information and for complying with our disclosure obligations under Regulation Fair Disclosure promulgated by the SEC. These disclosures are included on our website (www.novavax.com) in the “Investors” or “News” sections. Accordingly, investors should monitor these portions of our website (www.novavax.com), in addition to following our press releases, SEC filings, and public conference calls and webcasts.
Also available on our website is information relating to corporate governance at Novavax and our Board of Directors, including our Code of Conduct. We intend to disclose on our website any future amendments to and waivers from this code that apply to our Chief Executive Officer, Principal Financial Officer, Principal Accounting Officer and Controller, and persons performing similar functions, as promptly as practicable, as may be required under applicable SEC and Nasdaq rules.
We webcast our earnings calls and certain events we participate in or host with members of the investment community on the investor relations section of our website. Additionally, we provide notifications of news or announcements regarding press and earnings releases as part of the investor relations section of our website. The contents of our website are not part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, or any other report we file with, or furnish to, the SEC.
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Item 1A. RISK FACTORS
You should carefully consider the following risk factors in evaluating our business. A number of risks could cause our actual results to differ materially from those that are indicated by forward-looking statements. Some risks relate principally to our business and the industry in which we operate. Others relate principally to the securities market and ownership of our common stock. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risks and uncertainties of which we are unaware, or that we currently deem immaterial, also may become important factors that affect us. Any of the following risks could result in material adverse impacts on our business, financial condition, or results of operations. You also should consider the other information included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K as well as our other filings with the SEC.
Summary of Risk Factors
Our business is subject to numerous risks. The following is a summary of the principal risk factors described in this section:
•We have a history of losses and our future profitability is uncertain.
•We will continue to require significant funding to maintain our current level of operations and fund the further development of our vaccine candidates.
•Because our vaccine product development efforts depend on new and rapidly evolving technologies, our efforts may not succeed.
•The regulatory and commercial success of our COVID-19 Vaccine remains uncertain. While we have received full MA, provisional registration, CMA, or EUA for our prototype COVID-19 Vaccine and our updated COVID-19 vaccine in a number of jurisdictions, we may be unable to obtain full regulatory approvals in the U.S. or other jurisdictions for our updated vaccine or new versions in the future or produce a successful vaccine in a timely manner, if at all.
•The emergence and transmissibility of variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, may affect market acceptance or sales of our COVID-19 Vaccine, and our strategy to develop new versions of our COVID-19 Vaccine to protect against certain variants may not be successful.
•We are a biotechnology company and face significant risk in developing, manufacturing, and commercializing our products and product candidates.
•Because we depend on third parties to conduct some of our laboratory testing and clinical trials, and a significant amount of our vaccine manufacturing and distribution, we may encounter delays in or lose some control over our efforts to develop and supply products.
•We are highly dependent on the commercial success of our COVID-19 Vaccine, and even though we have received provisional registration, CMA, EUA or full marketing authorization in certain jurisdictions for our COVID-19 Vaccine, and even if we have products licensed in additional markets, our vaccine products may not be initially or ever profitable.
•The risks associated with COVID-19 and related governmental public health policies continue to evolve, which may have unpredictable effects on the prospects for commercial success of our COVID-19 Vaccine.
•Many of our competitors have significantly greater resources and experience, which may negatively impact our commercial opportunities and those of our current and future licensees.
•There is significant competition in the development of a vaccine against COVID-19 and a combined vaccine against COVID-19 and influenza, and we may never see returns on the significant resources we are devoting to our vaccine candidates.
•We may not succeed in obtaining full U.S. FDA licensure or foreign regulatory approvals necessary to sell our vaccine candidates.
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•Our product candidates might fail to meet their primary endpoints in clinical trials, meaning that we will not have the clinical data required to support full regulatory approvals.
•The regulatory pathway for our COVID-19 Vaccine is continually evolving, and such evolution may result in unexpected or unforeseen challenges.
•We have conducted, are conducting, and plan to conduct in the future, a number of clinical trials for our COVID-19 Vaccine at sites outside the U.S. and the U.S. FDA may not accept data from trials conducted in such locations.
•The later discovery of previously unknown problems with a product, manufacturer, or facility may result in restrictions, including withdrawal of a vaccine that had previously received regulatory approval in certain jurisdictions from the market.
•Our success depends on our ability to maintain the proprietary nature of our technology.
•Our business may be adversely affected if we do not successfully execute our business development initiatives.
•Given our current cash position and cash flow forecast, and significant uncertainties related to 2024 revenue, substantial doubt exists regarding our ability to continue as a going concern through one year from the date that the financial statements included in this Annual Report were issued.
•Servicing our 5.00% convertible senior unsecured notes due 2027 requires a significant amount of cash, and we may not have sufficient cash flow resources to pay our debt.
•Because our stock price has been and will likely continue to be highly volatile, the market price of our common stock may be lower or more volatile than expected.
•Litigation or regulatory investigations could have a material adverse impact on our results of operation and financial condition.
•We or the third parties upon whom we depend may be adversely affected by natural or man-made disasters or public health emergencies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Risks Related to Our Financial Condition and Capital Requirements
We have a history of losses and our future profitability is uncertain.
Our expenses have exceeded our revenue since our formation in 1987, and our accumulated deficit at December 31, 2023 was $4.8 billion. Our revenue and expenses fluctuate significantly from period to period.For most of our history our expenses have exceeded our revenue, which may occur during most periods in the foreseeable future. Our net losses for the last three fiscal years were $0.5 billion in 2023, $0.7 billion in 2022, and $1.7 billion in 2021.
Historically, our losses have resulted predominantly from research and development expenses for our vaccine candidates, manufacturing-related expenses, expenses associated with efforts to obtain regulatory approvals, costs related to protection of our intellectual property, and other general and administrative operating expenses, a significant portion of which have been noncash. Our expenses have exceeded our revenue since inception, and we believe our expenses will fluctuate over time, and may substantially increase in some years, as a result of continuing efforts to develop, test, manufacture, and make regulatory filings for our vaccine candidates, and commercialize our COVID-19 Vaccine and any other product candidates that receive requisite regulatory approvals.
As of the end of fiscal year 2023, our investment in the development and manufacture of our COVID-19 Vaccine has been substantial, and we expect such levels of investment to continue for the rest of 2024 and beyond, although the precise magnitude of our total investment will depend on the duration of the impact of COVID-19, the competitive landscape, the timing and results of our applications for regulatory approvals, the availability of funding, and whether and what booster shot protocols are recommended by governments, regulatory authorities, and healthcare providers. If we are unable to timely
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commercialize a vaccine against COVID-19 in sufficient jurisdictions, we likely would never recoup our investments. We expect to continue to incur significant operating expenses and anticipate significant losses over time as we seek to:
•conduct additional clinical trials and continue to seek regulatory approvals for our COVID-19 Vaccine and other potential vaccine candidates;
•conduct preclinical studies for other potential vaccine candidates;
•expand our global manufacturing and distribution capacity, and further commercialize our COVID-19 Vaccine; and
•maintain, expand and protect our intellectual property portfolio.
As a result, we expect our cumulative operating losses to increase until such time, if ever, that product sales, licensing fees, royalties, milestones, contract research and other sources generate sufficient revenue to fully fund our operations. We may never achieve profitability and may not sustain profitability, if achieved.
We will continue to require significant funding to maintain our current level of operations and fund the further development of our vaccine candidates.
We do not currently generate sufficient revenue from product sales, licensing fees, royalties, milestones, contract research or other sources to fully fund our operations. We, therefore, will use our cash resources, and expect to require additional funds, to maintain our operations, continue our research and development programs, advance preclinical studies and clinical trials, seek regulatory approvals and manufacture and market our COVID-19 Vaccine and any other product candidates that are approved for commercialization.
To date, we have financed our operations primarily through the sale of equity and debt securities, government funding and grant agreements, and supply agreements (also sometimes referred to as advance purchase agreements) for our COVID-19 Vaccine. Although we have entered into supply agreements for our COVID-19 Vaccine that include prepayments from the purchasers, until we can generate sufficient product revenue from such agreements to fully fund our operations, which we may never do, we expect to finance our cash needs through a combination of additional public or private equity or debt financings, as well as existing cash, potential collaborations, strategic alliances and marketing, distribution or licensing arrangements, funding from governmental and non-governmental funding entities, and potentially other sources. While we may continue to apply for contracts or grants from academic institutions, non-profit organizations and governmental entities, we may not be successful. Adequate additional funding may not be available to us on favorable terms, or at all. Furthermore, negative interpretations of clinical trial data or setbacks, or perceived setbacks, with respect to manufacturing ability and/or capacity or regulatory filing timelines for our COVID-19 Vaccine or our other vaccine candidates, as well as the competitive landscape posed by other COVID-19 vaccines, may impair our ability to raise additional financing on favorable terms, or at all. Additionally, under certain supply agreements, if we do not timely achieve requisite regulatory milestones for our COVID-19 Vaccine in the relevant jurisdictions, obtain supportive recommendations from governmental advisory committees, and/or achieve product volume or delivery timing obligations, purchasers may seek to terminate such agreements, reduce their purchase commitments, require us to refund all or some prepayments we have received, or renegotiate such agreements. If we cannot raise the additional funds required for our anticipated operations, we may be required to delay significantly, reduce the scope of or eliminate one or more of our research or development programs, downsize our organization, or seek alternative measures to avoid insolvency, including arrangements with collaborative partners or others that may require us to relinquish rights to certain of our technologies or vaccine candidates. If we raise additional funds through future offerings of shares of our common stock or other securities, such offerings would cause dilution of current stockholders’ percentage ownership in the Company, which could be substantial. Future offerings also could have a material and adverse effect on the price of our common stock.
Economic and political uncertainty may adversely affect our access to capital, cost of capital and ability to execute our business plan as scheduled.
Generally, worldwide economic conditions remain uncertain, particularly due to the impact of increased interest rates, and inflation. In addition, our operations and performance may be affected by political or civil unrest or military action, including the ongoing conflicts between Russia and Ukraine and Israel and Hamas as well as hostilities elsewhere in the
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Middle East. Access to capital markets is critical to our ability to operate. Traditionally, biotechnology companies have funded their research and development expenditures by raising capital in the equity markets. Declines and uncertainties in these markets in the past have severely restricted raising new capital and have affected companies’ ability to continue to expand or fund existing development, manufacturing, regulatory and commercialization efforts. We require significant capital for our current and expected operations. The general economic and capital market conditions, both in the U.S. and worldwide, have been volatile in the past and at times have adversely affected our access to capital and increased the cost of capital. The capital and credit markets may not be available to support future capital raising activity on favorable terms. If economic conditions decline, our future cost of equity or debt capital and access to the capital markets could be adversely affected. In addition, if we are unable to access the capital markets on favorable terms, our ability to execute our business plan as contemplated would be compromised. Moreover, we rely and intend to rely on third parties, including clinical research organizations, contract manufacturing organizations and other important vendors and consultants. Global economic conditions may result in a disruption or delay in the performance of our third-party contractors and suppliers. If such third parties are unable to adequately satisfy their contractual commitments to us in a timely manner, our business could be adversely affected.
Our existing funding and supply agreements or our advance purchase agreements do not assure success of our vaccine candidates or vaccines or that we will be able to fully fund our vaccine candidates or vaccines or our company operations, and if we are unable to satisfy the performance obligations under such agreements the agreements may be terminated, the purchase commitments may be reduced or we may be required to refund advance payments.
Our funding agreements with the U.S. government (“USG”) and CEPI each reimburse a portion of the expenses associated with the development and commercialization of our COVID-19 Vaccine. To the extent funding commitments in such agreements are conditioned on our meeting certain milestones or conditions, we may not ultimately receive the full amount of committed funds and may require additional funding to support our COVID-19 Vaccine development and commercialization activities, and we may be unable to timely obtain additional funding. For example, in July 2021, in connection with funding from the USG partnership formerly known as Operation Warp Speed, the USG instructed us to prioritize alignment with the FDA on our analytic methods before conducting additional U.S. manufacturing, and the USG indicated that it would not fund additional U.S. manufacturing until such alignment was reached, which did not occur until June 2022. In February 2023, in connection with the execution of Modification 17 to the USG Agreement, the U.S. government indicated to us that the award may not be extended past its current period of performance. The USG Agreement also includes provisions giving the USG termination rights based on a determination that the funded project will not produce beneficial results commensurate with the expenditure of resources and that termination would be in the USG’s interest. Such a determination would result in the loss of funding under that agreement and could result in other actions by the USG. The CEPI funding agreement, meanwhile, provides CEPI certain “march-in” rights in the event of certain breaches of that agreement. Additionally, we have entered into, and plan to continue entering into, supply agreements (also sometimes referred to as advance purchase agreements) for our COVID-19 Vaccine that include prepayments from the purchasers to help fund our development and manufacture of the vaccine. Under certain supply agreements, if we do not timely achieve requisite regulatory milestones for our COVID-19 Vaccine in the relevant jurisdictions, obtain supportive recommendations from governmental advisory committees, and/or achieve product volume or delivery timing obligations, purchasers may seek to terminate such agreements, reduce their purchase commitments, require us to refund all or some prepayments we have received, or renegotiate such agreements, each of which could have a material and adverse effect on our financial condition. The timing to fulfill performance obligations related to supply agreements will depend on timing of product manufacturing, receipt of marketing authorizations for additional indications, delivery of doses based on customer demand, and the ability of the customer to request variant vaccine in place of prototype vaccine under certain of our supply agreements. The supply agreements typically contain terms that include upfront payments intended to assist us in funding investments related to building out and operating our manufacturing and distribution network, among other expenses, in support of our global supply commitment, and are applied to billings upon delivery of COVID-19 Vaccine. Such upfront payments generally become non-refundable upon our achievement of certain development, regulatory and commercial milestones. We may not achieve such milestones, which could have a material and adverse effect on our financial condition. For example, in September 2022, following a delay in obtaining regulatory approval in the United Kingdom, we entered into the Amended and Restated UK Supply Agreement, which amended and restated in its entirety the Original UK Supply Agreement, which reduced the volume of vaccine doses that the Authority is committed to purchase as compared to the Original UK Supply Agreement. Under the terms of the Amended and Restated UK Supply Agreement, the Authority agreed to purchase a minimum of 1 million doses and up to an additional 15 million doses (the “Conditional Doses”) of our prototype vaccine, with the number of Conditional Doses contingent on, and subject to reduction based on, our timely achievement of supportive recommendations from the JCVI that is approved by the UK Secretary of State for Health. If the Authority did not purchase the Conditional Doses or the number of such Conditional Doses was reduced below 15 million doses of our prototype
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vaccine, we would have to repay up to $225.0 million related to the upfront payment previously received from the Authority under the Original UK Supply Agreement. Under the Amended and Restated UK Supply Agreement, the Authority also has the option to purchase up to an additional 44 million doses, in one or more tranches, through 2024.
As of November 30, 2022, the JCVI had not made a supportive recommendation with respect to our prototype vaccine, thereby triggering, under the terms of the Amended and Restated UK Supply Agreement, (i) a reduction of the number of Conditional Doses from 15 million doses to 7.5 million doses, which reduced number of Conditional Doses are contingent on, and subject to further reduction based on, our timely achievement by November 30, 2023 of a supportive recommendation from JCVI that is approved by the UK Secretary of State for Health as described in the paragraph above, and (ii) an obligation for us to repay $112.5 million related to the upfront payment previously received from the Authority under the Original UK Supply Agreement. In April 2023, we repaid the $112.5 million related to the November 30, 2022 triggering event. As of November 30, 2023, the JCVI had not made a supportive recommendation with respect to the prototype vaccine, thereby triggering a reduction in the number of Conditional Doses from 7.5 million doses to zero. As of February 2024, the Company is in discussions with the Authority regarding the treatment of the remaining upfront amount previously received of $112.5 million, which is reflected in Other current liabilities on our consolidated balance sheet.
In July 2023, we amended the Australia APA to provide for replacement doses and to extend the delivery schedule through 2025. As of February 2024, we had not yet received TGA authorization or delivered doses as contemplated in the July 2023 amendment and are in active discussions with the Australian government on both the TGA authorization and delivery of the doses previously scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2023. In February 2024, we received notice from the Australian government purporting to cancel its order for such prototype vaccine doses. We believe the cancellation was not proper under the amended Australia APA. However, if such a cancellation were determined to be allowable, $6.0 million of the deferred revenue would become a credit towards future deliveries of doses and approximately $48 million of the contract value related to future deliverables would no longer be available.
In April 2023, we amended the Canada APA, pursuant to which the Canadian government forfeited certain doses originally scheduled for delivery in 2022 for a payment of $100.4 million, which we received in the second quarter of 2023. In June 2023, we entered into an additional amendment (the “June 2023 Amendment”) to the Canada APA. Pursuant to the June 2023 Amendment, (i) the Canadian government forfeited certain doses of COVID-19 Vaccine previously scheduled for delivery and agreed to pay a total amount of $349.6 million to us in two equal installments, which total amount equaled the remaining balance owed by the Canadian government with respect to such forfeited vaccine doses, (ii) the amount of doses of COVID-19 Vaccine due for delivery was reduced, (iii) the delivery schedule for the remaining doses of COVID-19 Vaccine to be delivered was revised, and (iv) the parties agreed Novavax would use the Biologics Manufacturing Centre (“BMC”) Inc. to produce bulk antigen for doses in 2024 and 2025. The June 2023 Amendment maintained the total contract value of the original Canada APA. The first installment of $174.8 million was payable upon execution of the June 2023 Amendment and received by Novavax in July 2023, and the second installment of $174.8 million was contingent and payable upon the delivery of vaccine doses in the second half of 2023 and received by Novavax in January 2024. The Canadian government may terminate the Canada APA, as amended, if we fail to receive regulatory approval for our COVID-19 Vaccine using bulk antigen produced at BMC on or before December 31, 2024. Our 2024 plans do not currently anticipate the submission for regulatory approval of our COVID-19 Vaccine using bulk antigen produced at BMC, and we plan to work with the Canadian government on an amendment that addresses possible alternatives, which may not be achievable. As of December 31, 2023, $102.8 million was classified as short-term Deferred revenue and $485.3 million was classified as long-term Deferred revenue with respect to the Canadian APA on our consolidated balance sheet. If the Canadian government terminates the Canada APA, $28.0 million of the deferred revenue would become refundable and approximately $224 million of the contract value related to future deliverables would no longer be available (see Note 3 to our consolidated financial statements). As a result, our existing funding and supply agreements or our advance purchase agreements do not assure success of our vaccine candidates and may be insufficient to fully fund the development and commercialization of our vaccine candidates, our vaccines or our company operations and if we are unable to satisfy the performance obligations under such agreements the agreements may be terminated, the purchase commitments may be reduced or we may be required to refund advance payments.
Risks Related to Product Development and Commercialization
Because our vaccine product development efforts depend on new and rapidly evolving technologies, our efforts may not succeed.
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Our vaccine development efforts depend on new, rapidly evolving technologies and on the marketability and profitability of our products. Our development efforts and, if those are successful, commercialization of our COVID-19 Vaccine and our other vaccines could fail for a variety of reasons, including if:
•our recombinant nanoparticle vaccine technologies, any or all of the products based on such technologies or our proprietary manufacturing process prove ineffective or unsafe;
•new strains of COVID-19 evolve, with respect to which our COVID-19 Vaccine proves less effective;
•we or our third-party manufacturer facilities fail to reproducibly scale-up and maintain manufacturing with sufficiently high yields at reasonable cost and on projected timelines, or such manufacturing fails to generate product that consistently satisfies purity, potency, quality, stability, and shelf-life standards necessary for obtaining regulatory approvals or achieving commercial viability;
•the products are uneconomical to market or manufacture;
•some or all of the products that we or our third-party partners have manufactured may be determined to be unsalable based on criteria imposed by regulators as they complete regulatory approvals;
•our in-house or third-party manufacturing facilities fail regulatory inspections;
•proprietary rights of third-parties prevent us or our collaborators from exploiting technologies, and manufacturing or marketing products; or
•third-party competitors achieve and maintain greater market share due to earlier approvals or superior marketing capabilities.
The regulatory and commercial success of our COVID-19 Vaccine remains uncertain. While we have received provisional registration, conditional marketing authorization or emergency use authorization for our COVID-19 Vaccine in a number of jurisdictions, we may be unable to obtain full regulatory approvals in the U.S. or other jurisdictions for our updated vaccine or new versions in the future or produce a successful vaccine in a timely manner, if at all.
In response to the outbreak of COVID-19, we began pursuing, and continue to pursue, the development and manufacture of our COVID-19 Vaccine. Even though we have reported positive data from Phase 1, 2 and 3 clinical trials, and we and our partners have received either provisional registration, conditional marketing authorization, emergency use authorization, or full approval from the World Health Organization and in several jurisdictions, such results may not be sufficient to support regulatory submissions, authorizations and approvals, accelerated or otherwise, in any other relevant jurisdictions on our projected timelines, if at all.
Additionally, even though our COVID-19 Vaccine has received regulatory authorizations in certain jurisdictions and may receive further regulatory approval in others, successful commercialization depends on our ability to effectively scale up and maintain manufacturing capabilities at our own locations and those of our manufacturing partners and contractors. In May 2020, we acquired Novavax CZ (formerly Praha Vaccines, a.s.) including its vaccine manufacturing facility in Bohumil, Czech Republic and approximately 150 of its employees but we have yet to receive regulatory approval at this site. We also are actively entering into agreements with third parties to manufacture the antigen component of COVID-19 Vaccine and our proprietary Matrix-MTM adjuvant, as well as to distribute our COVID-19 Vaccine. Because of contractual restraints and the limited number of third-party manufacturers with the relevant expertise, required regulatory approvals and facilities to manufacture our COVID-19 Vaccine and its components at commercial scale, replacement of a manufacturer may be expensive and time-consuming and may cause interruptions in production. Manufacturing of our COVID-19 Vaccine and its components involves a complicated process that will require significant investments of time and financial resources to implement, and our efforts to establish and maintain manufacturing capabilities may not meet expectations as to timing, scale-up, reproducibility, yields, purity, cost, potency or quality. Shortages of raw materials and supplies also negatively
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impact our manufacturing efforts. We may not be able to timely and effectively produce or receive regulatory approvals for our COVID-19 Vaccine in adequate quantities to address global demand.
We have limited experience with the commercial launch of vaccine products. In addition to scaling up our manufacturing capabilities, we need to develop global distribution channels and form partnerships with third parties worldwide, as well as hire, train and integrate additional management, administrative and sales and marketing personnel. Rapid and significant growth may strain our administrative and operational infrastructure, imposing significant additional responsibilities on our organization, and our efforts to establish and maintain these capabilities may not meet expectations as to timing, scale-up, reproducibility, yields, purity, cost, potency or quality. If we fail to successfully manage our growth and the increased complexity of our operations, our business, financial position, results of operations and prospects may be materially and adversely affected.
The emergence and transmissibility of variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and the demand for bivalent vaccines, may affect market acceptance or sales of our COVID-19 Vaccine, and our strategy to develop new versions of our COVID-19 Vaccine to protect against certain variants may not be successful.
Our prototype vaccine was a monovalent vaccine developed based upon the genetic sequence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that was first discovered in December 2019. Our updated vaccine is a monovalent vaccine developed based upon the XBB.1.5 strain for the fall 2023 COVID-19 Vaccine season. As the SARS-CoV-2 virus continues to evolve, new strains of the virus, or those that are already in circulation, may prove more transmissible or cause more severe forms of COVID-19 disease than the predominant strains to date. For example, Alpha, Beta, Delta and Omicron (including subvariants such as XBB.1.5 and JN.1)variants have been observed to be more transmissible, or contagious, than previous variants.
Our COVID-19 Vaccine may not be as effective in protecting against these or other future variant strains. Additionally, we expect the demand for bivalent vaccines to continue to increase, which may negatively impact the demand, particularly in the U.S., for our COVID-19 Vaccine and would likely require significant expenditures by the Company to successfully market a bivalent formulation, particularly in the U.S. Our COVID-19 Vaccine may fail to achieve market acceptance or significant sales, despite gaining regulatory approval, provisional registration, conditional marketing authorization or emergency use authorization in a number of jurisdictions, including emergency use authorization the U.S., as demand for variant-specific or bivalent vaccines increases. We have several variant-specific vaccine candidates in development, including for Omicron subvariants and may develop others in the future. However, if these efforts are unsuccessful, these candidates do not receive regulatory approvals expeditiously, we are slower to develop variant-specific or bivalent vaccines than competitors, these vaccine candidates prove less effective than competitors’ vaccines, or we are unable to successfully manufacture, distribute or market such vaccine candidates once approved, these shortcomings may lead to reputational harm, loss of market share, and adverse financial results.
Our 2024 revenue depends on our ability to successfully develop, manufacture, distribute, or market an updated monovalent or bivalent formulation of a vaccine candidate for COVID-19 in a single dose vial or pre-filled syringe for the fall 2024 COVID vaccine season, which is inherently uncertain and subject to a number of risks, including regulatory approval. We experienced delays in early 2023 in manufacturing our BA.5 clinical trial materials, which delayed regulatory approval from the U.S. FDA for our vaccine candidate for the fall 2023 COVID vaccine season.
Further, counterparties to certain of our existing supply agreements may request variant-specific vaccines in place of our COVID-19 Vaccine and, depending on when we are able to offer such variant-specific vaccines, if at all, such counterparties may seek to delay, reduce or otherwise renegotiate their purchase commitments, which may adversely impact our ability to realize the full financial benefit of such supply agreements. In addition, we may expend significant resources adapting our COVID-19 Vaccine or conducting clinical trials to protect against variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, but a market for this adapted vaccine may not develop and demand may not align with our projections or cost expenditures.
We are a biotechnology company and face significant risk in developing, manufacturing and commercializing our products.
We focus our research and development activities on vaccines, an area in which we believe we have particular strengths and a technology that appears promising. The outcome of any research and development program is highly uncertain. Only a small fraction of biopharmaceutical development programs ultimately result in commercial products or even product candidates and a number of events could delay our development efforts and negatively impact our ability to make regulatory submissions or obtain regulatory approval for, and to manufacture, market and sell, our COVID-19 Vaccine
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