Valneva is planning to shrink its headcount by up to 15% as the French vaccine developer continues to seek ways to cut costs.
The company—whose vaccines include the Japanese encephalitis shot Ixiaro and the cholera vaccine Dukoral—saw first-quarter 2026 revenue drop to 30.9 million euros ($36.2 million) from 49.2 million euros ($57.6 million) for the same period a year ago. Valneva partly attributed this drop-off to the planned wind-down of its side business of distributing Bavarian Nordic vaccines in certain territories.
But even taking this change into account, the wider picture is looking tough for Valneva. The company disclosed this morning that its 2026 sales expectations have dropped from a range of between 145 million euros and 160 million euros ($170 million and $187 million) to 135 million euros and 150 million euros ($158 million and $175 million). The biopharma attributed this change to “an emerging adverse trend in travel vaccine uptake across key markets, driven by geopolitical factors.”
The company’s troubles haven’t been limited to the commercial front. Valneva is continuing to try and get its Pfizer-partnered Lyme disease vaccine approved, despite missing the primary endpoint of a pivotal trial.
Meanwhile, the French biopharma recently pulled its first-of-its-kind chikungunya vaccine Ixchiq from the U.S. market after the FDA raised some serious safety concerns, including one death from encephalitis that the agency said was “directly attributable” to the vaccine.
“Our first‑quarter sales reflect the sharp decline in third-party products and our planned focus on proprietary products,” Valneva’s Chief Financial Officer Peter Bühler said in this morning’s release. “We also see the first indications of the geopolitical situation adversely affecting travel.”
He added, “We continued to reduce our operating cash burn meaningfully and, combined with further cost saving measures and our strengthened balance sheet following the successful financing completed in April, we expect a solid cash position through the potential regulatory approvals of our Lyme disease vaccine.”
This includes “a further restructuring plan designed to streamline its global business operations,” which will result in a reduction in global headcount of between 10% and 15%, according to the release. The company entered the year with a workforce of 674 employees spread across Austria, Canada, France, Sweden, the U.K. and the U.S.
The latest layoffs follow Valneva’s announcement late last year that it would close down a preclinical R&D site in Nantes, France, impacting 30 employees. It meant that all French operations have been consolidated at Valneva’s Lyon location, while all R&D work will take place at the biopharma’s site in Vienna, Austria.
The combined changes are expected to reduce 2026 operating costs by 25% to 35%, the company said in Wednesday’s release.
