While coronavirus vaccine news doesn’t have the same power to drive stock markets as it did several months ago, a few vaccine makers are still riding on whether or not their pending vaccines will become a success. One such company is Novavax (NASDAQ: NVAX). While not necessarily a small-time manufacturer, the company has been aiming to develop and scale a COVID-19 vaccine for a while. However, the company was hit by some unexpectedly bad news on Tuesday when it announced that it would be delaying its application for its vaccine.
While rumors have been circulating for a while, Novavax officially confirmed that it is delaying its planned regulatory submission for its vaccine with U.S., U.K, and E.U health agencies. Instead of filing sometime in Q1 2021, the company said it would submit its paperwork sometime during the third quarter of the year.
Part of this has to do with the company’s phase 3 trials, which are just wrapping up. The company said that it would be submitting a final analysis sometime in Q2. Some investors think this delay seems a bit suspicious and that it was delayed after this final analysis. The reason being because there might be some issues with the clinical data and that this final analysis would try and spin it into a better light. However, that’s still just speculation at this point.
What’s more, Novavax said that due to supply issues, it would be prioritizing low-income countries first over developed ones, which have already had a number of different vaccine options from other large pharmaceutical companies which already have a stranglehold over Western markets.
“We are having difficulty getting to that point due to a global shortage of a few raw materials, including a shortage of 2,000-liter bags, depth filters, which are used in the purification process and then growth media,” commented Novavax CEO Stanley Erck about the current supply situation. He didn’t have much to say about Novavax pushing back its regulatory approval submission.
Shares of Novavax are down around 13.9% following the update from the company. While a lot of investors had hopes that Novavax could hit it big thanks to its coronavirus vaccine, it seems that this vaccine producer was just one of many to drop the ball when it comes to coming out with a treatment. Most small vaccine developers seem to have failed as well, with the larger pharmaceutical companies ending up beating their smaller competitors to the punch with their own COVID-19 vaccines.
Novavax Company Profile
Novavax Inc is a biotechnology company that develops vaccines. The company works in the clinical stage of development with a focus on delivering novel products that prevent a broad range of diseases. Novavax works together with its wholly owned Swedish subsidiary to produce vaccine candidates to respond to both known and emerging disease threats. The company believes its vaccine technology has the potential to be applied broadly to a wide variety of human infectious diseases. Novavax develops product candidates geared toward all age demographics of the general population. – Warrior Trading News
