Vaccine manufacturer Oxford Biomedica warns of Covid-19 cliff edge
Oxford Biomedica, which helped manufacture the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, has enjoyed a revenue boost of more than 60 per cent, thanks to its frontline position in tackling the pandemic.
The London-listed cell and gene therapy group pulled in £142.8m in the year to 31 December, up from £87.7m in 2020. However, the firm has warned of a sales drop – making investor fears of a so-called ‘Covid cliff edge’ a reality.
Shares slumped 6.8 per cent to 595p per share by mid-morning.
Interim CEO and chair Dr Roch Doliveux hailed the “exceptional” financial performance, which also saw the firm produce more than 100m doses of the vaccine over the course of the partnership with AstraZeneca.
As the supply agreement with AstraZeneca nears its end, the manufacturer is in talks for a possible extension.
The biotech firm has since inked two new partnerships with fellow biotech companies Immatics and Arcellx, after its commercial and bioprocessing revenues surged nearly 90 per cent in the 12-month period.
“2022 will be another important year as we execute on our strategy to become a global viral vector leader, providing life-changing therapies and vaccines to patients,” the interim CEO said in a statement.
“With the outsourced vector manufacturing supply market growing rapidly, we see significant potential to build upon our success with lentiviral vectors and expand the scope of our innovative process development and manufacturing to all classes of viral vectors.”
The launch of its US business may also push the company to report a loss this year.