Novavax Jumps on $388 Million Funding From Vaccine Coalition (1)

Novavax Inc. rallied 20% in after hours trading on Monday after its experimental vaccine for the pandemic sweeping across the globe got a major infusion of cash.

The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, which is funding multiple coronavirus vaccine projects, has awarded Novavax another $384 million in new funding. That’s on top of $4 million the Oslo-based organization invested in the biotechnology company in March and is CEPI’s single largest investment to date.

The Gaithersburg, Maryland-based company’s NVX-CoV2373 is meant to create antibodies that block a protein “spike” that the new coronavirus uses to infect its host. Novavax’s vaccine is in a race with at least 100 other potential candidates to stem the tide of the virus that causes Covid-19.

The company expects that the funding will allow Novavax to increase production of key components of the vaccine. As many as 100 million doses could be ready by the end of the year. An early look at the first in-human test results are expected in July.

Read more: The Drugs and Vaccines That Might End the Coronavirus Pandemic

(Updates to add share move.)

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Cristin Flanagan in New York at cflanagan1@bloomberg.net

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Jennifer Bissell-Linsk

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