Valneva Dives into the Red: €82 Million Operational Loss in 2025
The French vaccine laboratory recorded an operational loss of €82.1 million in 2025, despite a 3% increase in revenue to €174.7 million. This contradiction highlights a costly growth strategy: massive investment in R&D prior to expected results in the first half of 2026 for its leading Lyme disease candidate, in partnership with Pfizer.
Revenue Growth Amidst Rising Costs
Valneva recorded total revenue of €174.7 million in 2025, up 3% from €169.6 million in 2024. Excluding third-party products (which gradually ceased in 2025), the group's own sales grew by 9% at constant exchange rates. The Japanese encephalitis vaccine IXIARO/JESPECT drove this growth with a 7.2% increase, reaching €98.4 million. IXCHIQ, the chikungunya vaccine, more than doubled its sales to €8.4 million from €3.7 million a year earlier, benefiting from launches in several European countries and an epidemiological outbreak in La Réunion. However, behind these positive figures, operational damages accumulated: Valneva recorded an operational loss of €82.1 million in 2025, compared to an operational profit of €13.3 million in 2024. This dramatic reversal was mainly due to 2024 benefiting from an exceptional gain of €90.8 million from the sale of a rights portfolio.
Financial Deterioration Amid Operational Challenges
At the heart of this financial deterioration, operational challenges are mounting. The cost of goods sold amounted to €107.1 million in 2025, mainly due to additional expenses related to the completion of the production transfer to the new Almeida facility in Scotland. The gross margin of IXIARO contracted to 59.6% in 2025 from 61% in 2024, penalized by higher production costs at the new site coupled with lower production volumes. More critically: IXCHIQ displayed a negative gross margin in 2025, penalized by €8.5 million in inventory write-downs following the termination of the supply agreement with Serum Institute of India in December 2025. DUKORAL, the cholera vaccine, saw its margin erode to 33.3% from 38.7% in 2024, notably due to batch failures in the last quarter of 2025. Concurrently, R&D expenses surged to €85.3 million, up 15% from €74.1 million in 2024, reflecting the increasing intensity of investment in vaccine candidates.
Maintaining Outlook for 2026 Despite Financial Strain
Despite this deteriorated financial situation, Valneva maintains its outlook for 2026 and stakes its future on the imminent arrival of potentially 'transformative' results. The first results from the Phase 3 VALOR trial of the VLA15 candidate against Lyme disease, conducted by Pfizer, are expected in the first half of 2026. Phase 3 vaccinations were finalized in 2025. If the results are positive, Pfizer plans to submit a request for authorization to the US FDA and the European EMA in 2026. Valneva could then receive up to $143 million in payments related to the initial stages of commercialization, royalties between 14% and 22% on sales, and up to $100 million in additional payments based on cumulative sales. The group also recorded a cash position of €109.7 million as of December 31, 2025, down from €168.3 million a year earlier, indicating significant but still controlled cash consumption thanks to rigorous expense management. The realization of this expectation regarding the Lyme disease vaccine would represent a major turning point to justify current investments and accumulated losses.
