Nov 12 (Reuters) - Novavax ( NVAX ) cut its annual

revenue forecast on Tuesday, citing lower-than-expected sales of

its COVID-19 vaccine, ahead of handing over the rights to sell

the shot to Sanofi.

The U.S. vaccine maker now expects between $175 million and

$225 million for full-year sales of its COVID vaccine, its only

product on the market, down from the $275 million to $375

million it previously forecast.

"We were hopeful to get a larger market share this year,"

Novavax ( NVAX ) CEO John Jacobs said in an interview, adding that the

company was averaging about 3% of the market weekly.

If the company doesn't see the sales trend turn more

positive in the current quarter, Jacobs said, "we would be under

what we were hoping to get in the U.S. on revenue, so we took

that number down to be conservative."

The company also cut its sales projection when it reported

second-quarter earnings in August.

Novavax's ( NVAX ) COVID vaccine brought in sales of $38.21 million

for the third quarter, ahead of analysts' average expectations

of $29 million, according to LSEG data.

Total revenue for the quarter was $84.51 million, beating

analysts' expectations of $65.78 million, but down nearly 55%

from the previous year.

Novavax ( NVAX ) also cut its 2024 total revenue forecast to between

$650 million and $700 million, from $700 million to $800 million

previously. The company at the start of the year said it

expected to make as much as $1 billion in revenue.

Jacobs acknowledged that Novavax ( NVAX ) does not have the market

leverage and scale of French drugmaker Sanofi, with which it

signed a licensing deal earlier this year to sell its COVID

vaccine from 2025 in several markets, including the U.S. and

Europe.

Novavax ( NVAX ) has struggled to keep pace with rival vaccine makers

Moderna ( MRNA ) and Pfizer ( PFE ), which reported more than $3

billion in combined sales for their mRNA COVID shots for the

third quarter.

The company is banking on revenue from its Sanofi deal and

vaccines in development, including an experimental COVID-flu

combination shot, which got the green light from the U.S. FDA

this week to resume clinical testing.

Novavax ( NVAX ) posted a net loss of $121 million for the quarter,

less than the loss of $133 million estimated by analysts. It

said it ended the quarter with $1 billion in cash and

receivables.