TipRanks

Notifications

Novavax To Commence Australia’s First COVID-19 Vaccine Trial

As part of the urgent global race to tackle the coronavirus outbreak, Novavax (NVAX) is due to commence Phase 1 testing for its SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, NVX-CoV2373, within the coming weeks.

According to the statement, this is the third confirmed global Covid-19 vaccine trial and the first in Australia.

“The urgent global race to develop a vaccine against the COVID-19 pandemic drove our rapid identification and selection of an optimal, highly immunogenic vaccine candidate,” said Stanley C. Erck, President and CEO of Novavax. 

The Phase 1 in-human trial of NVX-CoV2373 is expected to begin in mid-May with preliminary immunogenicity and safety results in July, and will take place at Nucleus Network’s Melbourne and Brisbane clinics.

“Novavax’s early development efforts on vaccines for two other recent coronavirus epidemics – severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), along with prior work on Ebola – allows them to leverage their understanding of coronaviruses and adapt their research to create a vaccine for SARS-CoV-2” said the statement.

Indeed, the stock has won support from all five analysts polled by TipRanks- giving NVAX a Strong Buy analyst consensus. Shares have already tripled year-to-date- but analysts believe the stock has further room to grow. (See Novavax stock analysis on TipRanks).

“Unlike prior pandemics, we are confident there is a market for this vaccine, as WHO and other global regulators are aligned on ensuring a vaccine is produced ASAP” writes Ladenburg Thalmann’s Michael Higgins.

He reiterated his buy rating for the stock after the company identified NVX-CoV2373 as a coronavirus vaccine candidate. “We are increasing our price target on Novavax from $24 to $28 as we introduce ~$4/share for NVX-CoV2373” Higgins told investors on April 9.

Related News:
Abbot Labs Rolls Out Coronavirus Antibody Test, Seeks to Produce 20 Million Tests by June
Costco Ramps Up Dividend By 8%
Arcus Surges 50% In After-Hours Trading On Rumored Gilead Stake

Harriet Lefton
Harriet Lefton, originally from the UK, began her career as a journalist specialising in the niche world of metal markets. She graduated from the University of Cambridge before becoming a qualified UK lawyer. Now she has turned her attention to the world of financial blogging, covering US stocks, analysts and all manner of things finance-related.

Leave a Reply

Leave a Reply