What happened
Two slightly encouraging pieces of news from vaccine specialist Novavax (NVAX 7.85%) didn't prevent investors from trading its stock down on Thursday. The shares shed 1.5% of their value, essentially mirroring the performance of the S&P 500 index on the day.
So what
The first news item, and arguably the more important, is Novavax's announcement that it has submitted to expand the current conditional marketing authorization for its Nuvaxovid coronavirus vaccine in the European Union (EU). The company formally submitted its request to the European Medicines Agency (EMA), the drug evaluator of the 27-country economic bloc.
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Novavax is seeking to including people aged 12 to 17 in the CMA, buttressing its submission with phase 3 clinical data that tested the vaccine on 2,247 subjects within that age range.
"We are continuing to see spikes in COVID-19 across Europe and recognize the need to improve vaccination rates, particularly in the pediatric population," Novavax quoted its CEO Stanley Erck as saying. He added that his company "firmly believe[s] in the benefit of diversified vaccine options."
The healthcare company also announced that the deliveries of Nuvaxovid to Canada had commenced Tuesday, March 29. This followed that country's authorization for the jab, which occurred in February.
Now what
It's not unusual for Novavax stock to trade down on seemingly positive developments like the new EMA submission or the Canada supply news.
That's likely because neither event is unexpected or ground-breaking. Another factor is that they probably remind investors that Nuvaxovid is a relative latecomer in jurisdictions where mRNA-based vaccines Comirnaty from Pfizer and BioNTech, and Moderna's Spikevax, are much more well-established.
