What happened
Shares of Novavax (NVAX 2.95%) were up by around 8.4% on Tuesday morning as of 10:31 a.m. ET thanks to regulators at the European Commission ruling that the conditional marketing authorization (CMA) for the biotech's coronavirus vaccine, Nuvaxovid, could be expanded to include people between the ages of 12 and 17. The ruling clears the way for the jab to be administered to that demographic in the EU.
So what
This green light from regulators will likely enable the company to capture more revenue from sales to EU governments, who could be keen to purchase additional doses of the shot to inoculate their adolescent populations.
As the first protein-based coronavirus vaccine to be commercialized in Europe, it'll also provide vaccine-hesitant parents in the EU with another option for their children, which might lead to a small increase in demand for doses.
Now what
Nuvaxovid is conditionally approved for multiple demographics in the EU, but it remains unauthorized for any group in the U.S. Right now, Novavax is awaiting a verdict on its Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) filing from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which could arrive quite soon.
Based on the overwhelmingly positive results of the FDA's advisory committee vote on the matter in early June, getting another go-ahead from regulators is highly likely, and it's hard to see how another stamp of approval could do anything other than make the company's stock price rise.
