Vaxart Loses Bid to Escape Investor Suit Over Covid Vaccine Hype

Vaxart Inc. must face securities fraud litigation over its alleged scheme to inflate its stock price with false hype about the prospects of its experimental Covid-19 vaccine, although a closely linked hedge fund is off the hook for now, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled Wednesday.

Judge Vince Chhabria let most of the case move forward against Vaxart and current and former members of its senior leadership, saying the proposed shareholder class action “easily satisfies” the requirement that securities plaintiffs must show a company acted with deceptive intent.

The lawsuit “cogently alleges that Vaxart issued a series of statements ...