(Reuters) -Novavax 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 French drugmaker Sanofi.

Shares of the U.S. biotech firm declined about 4% to $8.66 in premarket trading.

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 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 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 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 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 has struggled to keep pace with rival vaccine makers Moderna and Pfizer, 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 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.