What happened
Shares of Novavax (NVAX +1.43%) were jumping 8.2% as of 11:39 a.m. EST on Wednesday. The gain came after the company announced two positive developments earlier in the morning.
Novavax and its partner, the Serum Institute of India, said that the Philippine Food and Drug Administration granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for Novavax's COVID-19 vaccine NVX-CoV2373 with the Matrix-M adjuvant. The company also confirmed that the European Medicines Agency has begun evaluating the application for Conditional Marketing Authorization for NVX-CoV2373.
Image source: Getty Images.
So what
Less than one-third of the population of the Philippines has received a COVID-19 vaccine. The country is home to more than 111 million people, making it the No. 13 most-populated nation in the world. Novavax's vaccine could be especially helpful in the Philippines since it can be stored for long periods in standard refrigerators.
Potential authorization in the European Union would also be a really big deal for Novavax. The company has a supply deal in place with the E.U. for up to 200 million doses of NVX-CoV2373. Novavax said that it hopes to market the vaccine under the brand name Nuvaxovid if it wins European authorization.
Now what
There should be several more catalysts for the vaccine stock coming up. Novavax awaits authorization decisions in the U.K., Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, and hopes to win Emergency Use Listing for its COVID-19 vaccine with the World Health Organization. The company also expects to file for U.S. EUA by the end of this year.
