Investors are pushing up the shares of Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) in Friday’s pre-market trading after the biopharma said its vaccine against Covid-19 proved to be 89% effective on average in a United Kingdom study. The NVAX stock price was up more than 55% at 8 a.m. EST.
With its report, Novavax is one step closer to contributing to the global vaccine supply chain that can’t seem to catch a break as limited supplies are outpaced by rising infection rates.
The U.S. vaccine rollout continues to slog along, nearly a year into the novel coronavirus pandemic. President Joe Biden aims to implement a national vaccine distribution plan, seeking to inoculate 100 million people in 100 days. Through Thursday afternoon, nearly 26.2 million people across the country have received at least one dose of a vaccine, but 48.4 million shots have been distributed, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
NVAX Stock News Bump Could Be Short
To be sure, all is not certain for the NVAX vaccine. The underdog firm has never brought a vaccine to market. Today’s announcement was predicated on data that hasn’t yet been vetted by outside experts, The Wall Street Journal noted.
In NVAX’s latest study results, based on testing performed on 56 of some 62 Covid-19 cases, the vaccine appeared to be 95.6% effective against the original virus strain and 85.6% against a U.K. strain that has emerged in several other countries. That strain has been shown to be more transmissible and more deadly, particularly with increased risk to younger people.
So far, vaccines from the collaboration between Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX), along with one from Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) are authorized for use in the U.S. An inoculation created by AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) and the University of Oxford has been approved for use in the U.K.
Earlier today, Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) announced that its one-shot vaccine generated strong protection against Covid-19 in a large, late-stage trial. Based on the result, J&J plans to file for an emergency-use authorization in the U.S. in early February. JNJ stock was off more than 3% in pre-market trading this morning.
On the date of publication, Robert Lakin did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.
InvestorPlace contributor Robert Lakin is a veteran financial writer and editor, following fintech, agtech and property tech startups.
