Drop in Covid-19 vaccine demand swings Oxford Biomedica to a loss
A drop in Covid-19 vaccine demand and manufacturing has swung British biotech firm Oxford Biomedica to a revenue loss in the half of the year.
The London-listed firm, which worked with AstraZeneca’s to produce its Covid-19 vaccine, has revenue slip more than 20 per cent to £64m in the six moths to 30 June, down from £81.3m.
Cases of Covid-19 in the UK hit their lowest level in 11 months in July, according to the Office for National Statistics earlier this week.
A year ago, the company was reporting a revenue boost of £50m thanks to its collaboration with AstraZeneca.
The company has continued to manufacture the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, having signed a new three-year development agreement in July.
For the full-year, bosses at the biotech group are expected the AstraZeneca partnership to feed through around £30m in revenue.
“We have made significant strategic and operational progress towards our goal of becoming a global viral vector leader. In the first half of 2022 we achieved double digit revenue growth in our core business and since the start of the year have signed numerous new or expanded partnership deals,” chair and interim CEO Roch Doliveux said in a statement.
“Oxford Biomedica is in an excellent position to achieve long-term future profitable growth as a leading partner of choice to deliver life-saving cell and gene therapies to patients.”