① The stock price of Novavax Pharmaceuticals of the United States rose by more than 120% and is now reporting $10.00 per share, the highest level since September last year; ② The company reached an exclusive license agreement worth about 1.2 billion US dollars with French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi, in addition to a milestone bonus of up to 200 million US dollars.
Financial Services Association, May 11 (Editor: Zhao Hao) On Friday (May 10), the stock price of Novavax Pharmaceuticals (Novavax, Inc. Stock Code: NVAX) rose more than 120% and now reports $10.00 per share, the highest level since September last year.
In the intraday period, the stock reached a high of 11 US dollars, a new high in nearly a year; before the market, it even rose to 13.91 US dollars, an increase of 210%. As of press release, the company's total market value is close to 1.4 billion US dollars.
According to the news, Novavax announced on its official website that it has reached an exclusive license agreement worth about 1.2 billion US dollars with French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi. The agreement includes joint commercialization of Novavax's COVID-19 vaccine on a global scale and joint development of COVID-19 and influenza vaccine products.
In the partnership, for every vaccine product developed by Sanofi based on Novavax's Matrix-M adjuvant technology, Novavax is entitled to a milestone bonus of up to 200 million US dollars. Additionally, Sanofi will receive a minority interest of no more than 5% in Novavax.
According to information, Novavax's proprietary saponin-based Matrix-M adjuvant can enhance antigen presentation in local lymph nodes by stimulating antigen-presenting cells to enter the injection site, thereby enhancing immune response and stimulating the production of high levels of neutralizing antibodies.
Following the COVID-19 outbreak, Novavax developed a protein vaccine containing an adjuvant to enhance the immune response. Health officials at the time commented that it was a valuable alternative for people who didn't want to get the mRNA vaccine.
In July 2022, Novavax's vaccine became the fourth COVID-19 vaccine authorized for emergency use in the US, lagging only behind Pfizer, Modena, and Johnson & Johnson. This also made Novavax a “dark horse” in the midst of the pandemic. The stock price once hit a record high of 331 US dollars, and the market capitalization reached 20 billion US dollars.
However, Novavax's sharp increase in vaccine sales was fleeting. In early 2023, the company issued a “continuing operation” warning, saying there were “major doubts” about its ability to continue operating. However, the warning was lifted today.
The company's CEO John Jacobs told the media that the agreement with Sanofi enabled the company to lift the warning. “The agreement allows us to maintain sufficient capital, removes the burden of ongoing operations, and gives us an opportunity to shift our strategy more to the areas we do best.”