In January last year, Novavax Inc. employees they met at a local Maryland bar to discuss how they could save their careers. For decades, small biotechnology has tried to develop an approved vaccine without success. The company had enough money to survive for just another six months or so, and its shares were traded below $ 4, with a market value of $ 127 million.
Today, Novavax is moving towards the authorization of a Covid-19 vaccine. Scientists believe that, if eliminated, it could be one of the most powerful weapons against the pandemic, offering possible key advantages over its competitors. Some early data suggest that Novavax may be one of the first to be shown to cause asymptomatic spread of coronavirus and may also provide more lasting protection.
If the vaccine is authorized, Novavax will continue to face the challenge of producing and distributing it in large quantities. The company sold some production assets in 2019, when it was desperate for cash.
Investors, who left the 33-year-old company to die last year, are betting that regulators will authorize the Novavax vaccine in the next few months. They sent shares on the Nasdaq up to $ 229, up 106% this year. Late last month, Novavax released preliminary data indicating that its shooting was effective in protecting against Covid-19, albeit less against a new strain identified in South Africa, which appears to be a challenge for other shots as well. The results of the late-stage vaccine study in the US could be published at the end of next month.
Novavax now has a market value of $ 15.4 billion, higher than companies with annual sales of billions of dollars, including the generic drug giant Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.