What happened
Novavax (NVAX 3.54%), the vaccine specialist whose stock has been quite a seesaw at times, saw its share price dip by nearly 2% on Wednesday. This was despite some good news in the clinical space announced by the company this morning.
So what
Novavax unveiled the initial results from a phase 1/2 trial of its COVID-Influenza Combination (CIC) vaccine. As the name implies, this is a blend of the company's NVX-CoV2372 (also known by the brand name Nuvaxovid) and its experimental influenza vaccine.
Image source: Getty Images.
The company's findings show, in its own words, that "the combination vaccine is feasible, well-tolerated and immunogenic." It added that serious adverse effects were rare, with none assessed as deriving from the treatment.
With that encouraging data supporting the blended shot, Novavax said it plans to advance to a phase 2 confirmation trial. This is expected to launch before the end of this year.
The trial's results are unquestionably good news for the ambitious biotech, so it's curious that investors traded its stock down subsequently today. Perhaps they are unimpressed that the company is devoting resources to a COVID/flu combination jab, since such products are already on the market. Perhaps they are also counting on the pandemic to subside before long, despite the spread of the BA.2 variants.
Now what
But any good clinical-trial showing is a win for a biotech, so this one should go down as a "W" for Novavax. Hopefully, though, the serious threat from the coronavirus is receding, so investors will be expecting companies that grew to prominence with COVID jabs to successfully branch out into other types of vaccines.
