(Bloomberg) -- Covid-vaccine contract manufacturer Emergent BioSolutions Inc. said it expects 2022 sales in a range of $1.4 billion and $1.5 billion, a slowdown from the previous year that is in line with Wall Street expectations. 

Emergent’s full-year revenue forecast compares with the average analyst estimate of $1.44 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The company also released preliminary results for 2021, saying that sales are expected to be between $1.77 billion and $1.79 billion, narrowing the guidance of $1.7 billion to $1.8 billion that was provided in November. 

The Gaithersburg, Maryland-based contract manufacturer provided new guidance in advance of a presentation that it will hold virtually on Monday during JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s annual health-care conference. 

At the outset of the pandemic, Emergent was the only U.S. manufacturer tasked with making the main ingredient in the Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca Plc Covid-19 vaccines -- giving it a critical role in the nationwide immunization campaign. 

That position was jeopardized after staff at Emergent’s Baltimore-based facility accidentally contaminated a batch of the J&J vaccine with components of AstraZeneca’s shot. The error led the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to start an inspection. In April, the U.S. regulator demanded that Emergent halt production of the vaccines.

The FDA later greenlit Emergent to resume production of the J&J vaccine in July, and has since inspected and cleared 11 batches of the J&J shot and eight batches of the AstraZeneca vaccine that had been kept from distribution by the earlier halt. Altogether, more than 120 million doses of coronavirus vaccines have been released from the Baltimore facility for use.

But the production setbacks ultimately led the U.S. government and Emergent to agree to terminate their years-long biodefense partnership in November, leaving about $180 million on the table. Emergent attributed part of the lower 2022 sales guidance to the loss of that program.

“The management team is very much looking forward to 2022, as we’ve restructured the way we run our business,” said Chief Executive Officer Robert G. Kramer Sr. said in an interview. “I see significant opportunity for both organic growth, and looking strategically for M&A transactions that are really geared toward building upon or creating leadership positions in niche segments of the public health threat market.”

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