Novavax, Inc.

Thank you for standing by, everyone. My name is Jim, and I'll be your conference operator for today. I would like to welcome everyone to the Novavax second quarter 2026 financial results and operational highlights conference call. All lines have been placed on a mute to prevent any background noise. After today's speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question during that time, simply press star followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. And if you would like to withdraw your question, simply press star and one again. Thank you. It's now my pleasure to turn the floor over to Naina Zeman. You may begin.

Good morning, and thank you all for joining us today to discuss our second quarter financial results and operational highlights today on August 6, 2026. A press release announcing our results is available on our website at www.novavax.com and an audio archive of this conference call will be available on our website later today. Before we begin with prepared remarks, I would like to remind you that this presentation includes forward-looking statements regarding Novavax's current expectations related to, but not limited to, its partnerships, market opportunities, and financial guidance. Our actual results may be materially different from such statements as detailed in the presentation. Discussions of non-GAAP figures and reconciliations to GAAP figures are available in our earnings press release and descriptions of the risks and uncertainties associated with Novavax are included in our SEC filings. Both can be accessed through our website. Joining me today are John Jacobs, our president and CEO, Jim Kelly, our chief financial officer, Elaine O'Hara, chief strategy officer, and Dr. Bob Walker, head of R&D. I would now like to hand the call over to John.

Thanks, Mayna, and good morning, everyone. In 2025, we set out to build a different kind of biotechnology company, one powered by partnering our technology, targeted and capital-efficient innovation, and a lean and agile operating model. Our ambition is InnovaVax with multiple partners and products using our technology, creating both near and long-term value while potentially having a meaningful impact on millions of lives around the world. Today, the momentum created by executing this new strategy is giving us the potential to have greater impact than ever before. For example, Four of the top 10 global pharmaceutical companies now have licensing or material transfer agreements for Matrix-M. One of those companies is Pfizer, in a collaboration that could represent up to $500 million in potential development and commercial milestones and significant potential future royalties. In total, our licensed partners and MTA holders collectively have the rights to over 30 areas of experimentation across both infectious disease and oncology. The collective utilization and experimentation with Novavax technology potentially opens the door to a substantial portion of a market projected to reach $100 billion in the 2030s, spanning infectious disease, oncology vaccines, and cancer immunotherapeutics. In the second quarter, we accelerated our momentum, and today, we're excited to share several important updates. First, we continue to execute well in our Sanofi partnership. with Sanofi's strong and growing commitment to Nuvaxivib and our technology. In fact, Sanofi has confirmed to us their intent to be among the first movers in the combination vaccine market and that they are in advanced discussions with regulators regarding phase three study timing for their program using Nuvaxivib and their own flu vaccines. We're pleased to hear this confirmation and we are optimistic about the growing potential of our opportunity as partners. Initiation of this trial in either of the U.S. will trigger a $125 million milestone payment to Novavax. Additionally, progress continues on the manufacturing tech transfer to Sanofi, which comes with an associated $75 million milestone upon completion and is expected by mid-2027. We believe Sanofi is also well-positioned for this commercial season with Nuvaxivit, supported by an expanded U.S. marketing campaign and launches in additional international markets. We're excited for the potential of this work to help increase awareness of Nuvaxivit and build meaningful market share over time. Taken together, this means we now have line of sight to an additional $200 million in potential near-term milestone payments, on top of the more than $1 billion in value we have already realized through a combination of upfront payments, milestones and royalties, and cost savings related to this partnership. Second, we're seeing growing interest in Matrix-M and increasing progress across our broader partnering portfolio. A growing body of scientific evidence is being generated by Novavax, our partners, and MTA collaborators in oncology and infectious disease targets. and we're excited about the progress that's being made. Third, our R&D investments are selective and strategic and they're designed with three goals in mind. To build upon the scientific evidence that makes our technology increasingly compelling to both current and prospective partners. To broaden the utility of our matrix technology platform. and to create new innovative vaccines that have the potential to stimulate additional partnering opportunities and drive value for Novavax and our stakeholders. Later in the call, Bob will discuss the momentum we're seeing across our R&D portfolio, including the growing body of work supporting MatrixM's utility in oncology. And finally, we're delivering on our commitment to transform Novavax into a leaner, more capital-efficient company To date, we've reduced our operating expenses by more than 80%, and we remain on track to achieve an approximately 90% reduction from our peak. Importantly, we didn't just cut. We focused, streamlining our company while at the same time preserving the capabilities we believe are needed to enable value creation. Taken together, the progress the team and I are sharing today reinforces our belief that the future is bright for Novavax. Thank you for joining us.