Novavax Inc has delivered just a small fraction of the 2 billion COVID-19 shots it plans to send around the world in 2022 and has delayed first-quarter shipments in Europe and lower-income countries such as the Philippines, public officials involved in their government's vaccine rollouts told Reuters.
Novavax said it has completed delivery of around 10 million vaccine doses to Indonesia and that shipments of several million shots arrived in Australia and New Zealand on Monday. The company declined to comment on the exact number of deliveries it has made but said it is moving as quickly as possible to ship its contracted supplies for this quarter.
Some shipments have been held up by regulatory processes and are waiting in a distribution warehouse to go to healthcare providers, Novavax spokesperson Amy Speak said.
Novavax shares fell nearly 10% in early trading.
Gaithersburg, Maryland-based Novavax (NVAX.O), which had never launched a product, had ambitions to provide a vaccine for the world, promising to deliver its shots by mid-2021.
When the tiny company missed 2021 targets, buyers turned to rivals including Pfizer Inc (PFE.N)/BioNTech SE, Moderna Inc (MRNA.O), and Chinese drugmakers.
Shipments to the European Union, Indonesia, and the Philippines were held back by a late regulatory approval from the World Health Organization (WHO), export limitations of its production partner the Serum Institute of India, and delayed approval of individual vaccine batches by European regulators, who must vet the shots before they can be distributed, according to officials in those regions.
The delivery delays have left at least one country reconsidering its Novavax order.
The company has yet to deliver vaccines on its largest contract for 1.1 billion doses to COVAX - a global vaccine distribution program for poorer countries - which would make Novavax its third-largest supplier, according to business data and analytics firm GlobalData Plc.
Novavax did not provide a timeline but told Reuters it expects to deliver around 80 million doses in the current quarter to COVAX, less than 10%.
A spokesperson for the GAVI vaccine alliance that co-runs COVAX with the WHO said it expected Novavax doses to be delivered soon.
Novavax is expected to earn around $5 billion in 2022 from COVID-19 vaccine sales, according to Refinitiv data.
Its two-dose vaccine has been authorized by WHO and European Union regulators, as well as countries including India, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
Trial data have shown the vaccine is more than 90% effective in preventing severe illness and death.