Valneva guides for nearly double product sales by 2026

(Reuters) -France's Valneva on Wednesday said it expects to nearly double its annual product sales by 2026 and edged up its 2024 product sales guidance as it banks on growth from its travel vaccines and the launch of its Ixchiq vaccine.

The biotech firm expects travel vaccines Ixiaro and Dukoral to drive mid-term sales, it said, including Ixiaro sales posting double-digit growth for at least the next three years.

That, coupled with the launch of Ixchiq, the first vaccine for the chikungunya virus which is spread primarily by infected mosquitoes, should allow the group to nearly double annual product sales by 2026, Valneva said.

For 2024, it forecast revenue of 170-190 million euros with product sales of 160-180 million, slightly above the range of 150-180 million it gave last month.

At the same time, Valneva said it expects its third-party sales to drop by an estimated 20% to 30% this year slimming to a fall of less than 5% of product sales by 2026-2027 as it ends its collaboration with Bavarian Nordic.

In 2023 Valneva said it had narrowed its adjusted EBITDA loss to 65.2 million euros from 69.2 million a year earlier.

Its shares were down around 3% at 0850 GMT, after gaining 4.7% in early trading.

Rx Securities analyst Samir Devani noted the sell-off followed a rise in the shares ahead of the results.

The company's "rosy" mid-term outlook and stringent cost management meant Valneva is "sufficiently financed towards sustainable profitability", Kempen analysts said.

(Reporting by Dagmarah Mackos; editing by Jamie Freed)