Scientists examine a step in the vaccine purification process as they design updates to the Novavax's COVID-19 shots in the company's research laboratory on May 24, 2022, in Gaithersburg, Md. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Angie Wang
MONTREAL – An American company that signed a deal with the federal government to produce COVID-19 vaccines in Montreal is warning investors it could go out of business within the year.
Executives at Maryland-based Novavax told investors yesterday on a conference call that there is significant uncertainty surrounding the company’s ability to continue funding operations as the market for COVID-19 vaccines changes.
In February 2021, the federal government announced a deal with the company to begin producing its vaccine at a National Research Council facility in Montreal.
The NRC said on a website last updated in December that it is still working on the “technology transfer” required to produce the vaccine.
Novavax Chief Financial Officer Jim Kelly told investors that the company, which lost more than $600 million last year, doesn’t expect to sell any new vaccine during the first three months of 2023 and there are fears that funding from the United States government could be cut.
Mitsubishi Chemical announced early last month that another company planning the commercial manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines in Canada, Quebec-based Medicago Inc., would be shut down.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 1, 2023.
