If you could immunize yourself against COVID-19 from the comfort of your home by just taking a pill, I'm guessing you'd prefer that approach to getting poked in the arm at a clinic. And that's what makes Vaxart (VXRT -4.79%) a compelling company, not to mention a potentially killer stock to own.
Though it has no recurring revenue or products on the market, Vaxart's oral vaccine technology just might open the door to reaching the level of widespread immunity required to extinguish the pandemic. But it has a lot of work to do to realize that potential, and it isn't the right stock for everyone. Let's take a quick look at how Vaxart's project might be a game-changer.
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Why this candidate might be special
There are two things in Vaxart's favor regarding the chances of its pill being a pandemic-ending tool. The first is the fact that its vaccine is a pill at all.
Unlike the jabs produced by Pfizer and Moderna, Vaxart's oral tablet doesn't require skilled staff or syringes to administer, nor does it require specialized refrigerators to keep the vaccine stable. That opens up the door to widespread administration in areas where there aren't many healthcare resources, and it also means that doses are easier to stockpile. Plus, the tablets are likely to be an easier pill to swallow (pun fully intended).
Therefore, it's conceivable that Vaxart's pills could reach market segments that competitors can only dream of. And thanks to its logistical features in contrast to vaccine jabs, the candidate could theoretically be sent to an entire population by mail in a very short period, resulting in a simultaneous generation of immunity, which could powerfully disrupt the virus's transmission. Of course, that might not be enough to end the pandemic entirely, but it'd still be quite valuable.
But that's only half of the appeal.
The second factor that might make Vaxart's tablets into a pandemic-ending weapon is that it appears to generate immunity right where it's most useful at preventing infection: in the inner surfaces of the nose and mouth. And that's exactly where some of the jabs currently on the market are thought to work somewhat poorly. So, it might be possible for Vaxart's tablets to be more effective at preventing infection and transmission, which would be a massive boon to public health efforts globally.
While Vaxart's pill-based solution to shoring up the immune system in the nose and mouth isn't the only solution -- intranasal vaccine sprays might also do the trick -- the fact remains that it could have a critical edge. Moreover, if the existence of that edge can be validated in clinical trials, the tablet could end up being the decisive weapon against the coronavirus that many had hoped the original crop of candidates from Moderna and Pfizer would be. And that just might be enough to precipitate the end the pandemic, though the whole endeavor is, unfortunately, quite far from being a slam dunk.
In that vein, the company has released some preliminary data from the completed phase 1 clinical trial that suggests that its vaccine is more effective at generating T-cell-mediated immunity than Moderna's or Pfizer's candidates. At the moment, it's too soon to draw any conclusions about what this might mean, but it could be very good news for shareholders if it's confirmed.
It's a risky stock to purchase
Until Vaxart's clinical trials demonstrate that its tablet can generate enough immunity in the right places to prevent infection or transmission, rumors of the pandemic's imminent demise are unfortunately quite premature.
Right now, the vaccine tablet is only in phase 2 clinical trials. Results are expected in the first half of this year, assuming that everything goes according to plan.
Like many of the other nascent vaccine stocks, investors should take care only to invest money in Vaxart that they can afford to lose.
Though the company does have a few promising non-coronavirus projects in its pipeline, such as its immunizations against influenza and norovirus, its tablet technology lacks the proof of concept a commercialized product would provide.
But if you're interested in making a speculative investment in a company that might have the special sauce to put an end to the pandemic, it could be right up your alley. Just don't expect its pills to end the pandemic until there's a bit more data to support that conclusion.
