COVID-19 vaccine maker Novavax to chop workforce, expenses

The company had 1,992 full-time employees as of February 21, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

Associated Press

May 09, 2023 / 19:13 IST

NOVAVAX

Novavax is cutting about a quarter of its workforce as the COVID-19 vaccine maker seeks to slash expenses while dealing with uncertain future revenue.

The company said Tuesday that it expects to trim next years costs for research and development as well as selling, general and administrative expenses by about 40% to 50% compared to 2022.

The company had 1,992 full-time employees as of February 21, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings. The job cuts announced Tuesday would equate to 498 employees.

Novavaxs protein-based vaccine debuted long after alternatives from companies like Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson had reached the market. Only about 88,458 doses of the Novavax vaccine have been administered in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

That compares to more than 400 million doses of market leader Pfizers two-shot original vaccine and updated booster.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

Show