What happened?
Shares of clinical-stage biotech Novavax (NVAX -0.95%) jumped on Tuesday following an endorsement (of sorts) of the company's potential coronavirus vaccine, NVX-CoV2373, from President Joe Biden. Novavax's stock closed today's trading session up by 16.3% after jumping by as much as 19% earlier in the day.
So what
Today, President Biden discussed his intention to send vaccines to other countries where COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc, one of which is India. It is in this context that the president briefly mentioned Novavax by name. According to an article published by The Financial Times, Biden said:
I've discussed with [Narendra Modi, India's prime minister] when we'll be able to send actual vaccines to India, which will be my intention. The problem is right now we have to make sure we have other vaccines. We have Novavax and others coming on, probably, and I think we'll be in a position to be able to share vaccines as well as know-how with other countries who are in real need. That's the hope and expectation.
Image source: Getty Images.
Now what
Novavax's vaccine, NVX-CoV2373, proved 100% effective against severe cases of COVID-19 in a phase 3 clinical trial. It also seems potent at preventing severe manifestations of the disease caused by some of the newer variants of the virus. The company plans to file for emergency use authorization in the U.S. and the U.K. in the second quarter.
The biotech also has agreements set up to supply about 200 million doses of its vaccine to various governments worldwide. Today's comments from President Biden are certainly welcome for Novavax and its shareholders, but truth be told, it is little more than icing on the cake for the biotech company.
