Novavax Highlights Matrix-M Licensing Push, Oncology Ambitions at Cantor Conference

Key Points

• Novavax is shifting toward a licensing-led business model, partnering with major pharmaceutical companies to expand use of its Matrix-M adjuvant while maintaining selective internal research. The company says it has cut expenses by 80%–90% and has more than two years of cash runway.
• Matrix-M is being explored across roughly 30 research areas, including infectious diseases and oncology. Novavax expects near-term preclinical data on efforts to use the adjuvant to enhance immune responses against “cold” tumors, while a C. difficile vaccine could enter clinical testing as early as next year.
• Sanofi remains central to Novavax’s commercial and financial outlook, leading Nuvaxovid commercialization in major markets and pursuing potential COVID-flu combination studies. Novavax has received $800 million in partner payments and identified up to $200 million in additional Sanofi-related milestones.

Novavax NASDAQ: NVAX outlined its strategy to expand the use of its Matrix-M adjuvant platform through licensing partnerships, internal research programs and commercialization alliances, with management highlighting progress in infectious disease vaccines and early oncology work at the Cantor Healthcare Conference.

Chief Executive Officer John Jacobs said the company has shifted over the past three years from a business centered on commercializing its COVID-19 vaccine to one focused on licensing its technology to larger pharmaceutical partners while maintaining selective internal research and development efforts.

Jacobs said Novavax has reduced its expense base by 80% to 90% over that period while retaining key capabilities and establishing a cash runway of more than two years. The company formally launched its updated strategy in January 2025, he said.

Partner activity and Matrix-M platform

Jacobs said four of the world’s 10 largest pharmaceutical companies are now working with Novavax, including direct license partners Sanofi and Pfizer, as well as companies operating under material transfer agreements, or MTAs. Under MTAs, partners gain access to Novavax technology for experimentation in their own laboratories.

According to Jacobs, one newly signed top-10 pharmaceutical partner is also a global oncology leader. Across its partnerships, Novavax currently has about 30 distinct areas of exploration spanning infectious diseases, oncology targets, tumor types, viral and bacterial diseases, and vaccine platforms.

Bob Walker, Novavax’s head of research and development, described Matrix-M as a saponin-based adjuvant currently used in two commercially available vaccines: Nuvaxovid, the company’s COVID-19 vaccine, and the R21 malaria vaccine. He said R21 is World Health Organization pre-qualified and has been administered to millions of children in Africa.

Walker said the company has safety and tolerability experience from tens of millions of people who have received Matrix-M-containing vaccines. He also said the adjuvant can be antigen-sparing, allowing a lower dose of antigen while seeking the same immune benefit, which may offer manufacturing and production-cost advantages.

Novavax is evaluating Matrix-M in difficult-to-treat or difficult-to-prevent infectious diseases, including a C. difficile vaccine candidate that Walker said the company is working to advance into the clinic. Jacobs said the candidate could enter the clinic as early as next year.

Oncology research plans

Management also emphasized the company’s oncology ambitions. Walker said the research focus is on using Matrix-M to help convert “cold” tumors into tumors that are more accessible to the immune system. He said Matrix-M can activate both antibody responses and cell-mediated T-cell responses, including CD8 cells that play a role in tumor-directed immunity.

Novavax is conducting work in tumor models associated with head and neck cancer, colorectal cancer, pancreatic cancer and melanoma, Walker said. The company is studying Matrix-M used with tumor antigens to induce targeted immune responses. Partners are also conducting preclinical work in their respective areas of investigation.

Walker said Novavax expects to receive both internal and partner-generated preclinical data in the coming months, adding that the company has seen early signs it considers encouraging.

Nuvaxovid commercialization and combination vaccine opportunity

Chief Financial Officer Jim Kelly said Sanofi is Novavax’s lead commercialization partner for Nuvaxovid in the United States, Europe, Canada and other major markets, while Takeda remains its partner in Japan. Kelly said Nuvaxovid shipments to U.S. retail locations occurred over the preceding weekend, following late-August approvals that were in line with other COVID-19 vaccines.

Kelly estimated the global COVID-19 vaccine market in 2026 at roughly $5 billion, with an approximately even split between the U.S. and international markets. He said the influenza market is valued at about $5 billion to $6 billion and that a combined COVID-19 and flu market could exceed $10 billion.

Sanofi is promoting Nuvaxovid availability across retail channels and has begun a digital direct-to-consumer program for people seeking a protein-based COVID-19 vaccine option, Kelly said. He added that Sanofi has released data from its COMPARE study, while Novavax previously presented results from the SHIELD-Utah study related to Nuvaxovid tolerability.

Management said Sanofi is in advanced discussions with regulators regarding pivotal Phase III studies for COVID-19 and flu combination products. Kelly said Novavax expects Sanofi to advance late-stage programs, though he noted Novavax does not speak for its partner.

Financial milestones

Kelly said Novavax has received $800 million in upfront payments and milestones from its Pfizer and Sanofi agreements over the past three years. The company has stated an objective of reaching non-GAAP profitability as early as 2028, which Kelly said would imply revenue of more than $150 million under its guided cost structure.

He identified $200 million in potential Sanofi-related milestones, including $75 million tied to a Nuvaxovid manufacturing technology transfer that Novavax expects by mid-next year and $125 million upon Sanofi initiating a pivotal Phase III combination-vaccine study in the U.S. or Europe.

Looking ahead a year, Jacobs said Novavax would seek evidence of continued execution by Sanofi and other partners, additional partnerships, growth in Nuvaxovid market share, and proof-of-concept oncology data supporting Matrix-M’s potential role in cancer immunotherapy.

About Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX)

Novavax, Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland, that specializes in the discovery, development and commercialization of next-generation vaccines to prevent serious infectious diseases. Founded in 1987, the company has built a platform based on recombinant nanoparticle technology and its proprietary Matrix-M™ adjuvant to enhance immune responses.

The company's lead product is NVX-CoV2373, a protein-based vaccine designed to elicit a robust immune response against the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

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