Vaxcyte Puts A $301.7 Million Lonza Plant Lease On Its Books, And Two Serotypes Missed Merck Bar
The vaccine developer's quarterly report shows a 12-year finance lease on its Swiss suite and two PCV21 comparisons that missed the tougher FDA-style test.
Vaxcyte, a clinical-stage company that develops vaccines against bacterial diseases, now carries $301.7 million of finance lease assets for its Lonza-run manufacturing suite in Visp, Switzerland, against $107.8 million of lease liabilities, according to its quarterly report filed Wednesday. The same report shows its lead vaccine, VAX-31, missed the stricter noninferiority bar for two serotypes against Merck's Capvaxive.
A suite moves onto the balance sheet
The lease was deemed to have started in August 2026, when the suite was handed to Lonza's operations team after construction and certification for commercial operation. Lonza now runs the suite with its own staff to make Vaxcyte's products.
Vaxcyte classified the arrangement as a finance lease. Undiscounted payments total $131.2 million, with $14.9 million due within one year. The weighted-average remaining term is 12.25 years, at a 3.9% discount rate.
The prior quarter's report said the lease had not started, no asset was recorded, and the calculation was still under way. It had put Lonza buildout costs, which were carried as prepaid lease payments, at $190.7 million. The new right-of-use asset folds in those prepayments plus the initial lease liability.
Non-cancelable manufacturing purchase commitments stand at $524.4 million, down from $670.2 million at June 30, 2026.
Two serotypes short of the tougher test
In the OPUS-1 late-stage adult trial, VAX-31 met the 0.667 lower-bound criterion for 20 of 20 serotypes shared with Pfizer's Prevnar 20 and 17 of 19 shared with Merck's Capvaxive. Serotypes 3 and 12F missed that bar against Capvaxive but cleared the older 0.5 threshold.
Vaxcyte said it expects the FDA to make the Capvaxive comparison a particular focus of review. Its earnings release said serotypes unique to Capvaxive account for a larger share of adult disease than those unique to Prevnar 20.
The 10-Q also says Pfizer will use the 0.667 standard in its infant trial of a 25-valent candidate. Because of that, Vaxcyte expects the FDA to require the same for its own infant program.
Losses and the October money
Vaxcyte reported a net loss of $297.1 million for the third quarter and $902.0 million for the first nine months. Product manufacturing costs for the nine months rose $147.2 million as it prepares for potential commercial launches. Cash and investments were $2.3 billion at September 30.
In October it completed offerings with about $1.15 billion in gross proceeds and about $1.1 billion net. These included 8,584,375 shares at $64.00 and $575 million of 1.50% convertible notes due 2032, convertible at roughly $89.60 a share. Those proceeds are not in the September balance.
Vaxcyte expects results from the OPUS-2 and OPUS-3 trials in the first half of 2027, and plans a biologics license application in the first half of 2028.
Sources
- 10-Q Filing — Vaxcyte (PCVX) — SEC EDGAR
- 10-Q Filing — Vaxcyte (PCVX), Q2 FY2026 filed 2026-08-05 (comparison basis) — SEC EDGAR
- Earnings release (8-K Item 2.02, pcvx-20261104xexx991.htm) — Vaxcyte, filed 2026-11-04 — SEC EDGAR
