Bavarian Nordic raises sales guidance after monkeypox vaccine order

[May 25, 2022]  COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -Danish biotechnology company Bavarian Nordic on Wednesday lifted its sales outlook and now expects a smaller operating loss this year after signing a contract with an undisclosed country for the supply of its monkeypox vaccine.

Bavarian shares traded up 16% at 1019 GMT and have risen more than 40% since the company announced a similar vaccine supply deal with an undisclosed country on May 19. The stock is down 28% this year.

"We have rapidly adapted to this unprecedented situation and are working closely with other governments to make vaccines available as fast as possible to mitigate the situation," CEO Paul Chaplin said in a statement.
 

The firm is currently in discussions with several other countries about potential supply agreements for its Imvanex monkeypox vaccine, which is branded Jynneos in the United States.

Germany on Tuesday announced it had ordered 40,000 doses of Bavarian's vaccine, but the firm has not confirmed whether it has entered any deal with Germany.

Bavarian now expects revenue to be between 1.3 and 1.5 billion Danish crowns ($187-$215 million), up from a previous estimate in the range of 1.1 and 1.4 billion.

 An employee of the vaccine company Bavarian Nordic works in a laboratory of the company in Martinsried near Munich, Germany, May 24, 2022. The company, headquartered in Denmark, is the only one in the world to have approval for a smallpox vaccine called Jynneos in the U.S. and Imvanex in Europe, which is also effective against monkeypox. REUTERS/Lukas Barth

It also raised its expectations for earnings before interest, tax and amortisation (EBITDA) to a loss of between 1 and 1.2 billion, up from a previous estimate of a loss of 1-1.3 billion.

Global health officials have tracked more than 200 suspected and confirmed cases of the usually mild viral infection in 19 countries since early May.

($1 = 6.9698 Danish crowns)

(Reporting by Nikolaj Skydsgaard, additional reporting by Stine Jacobsen; editing by Jason Neely)

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