Why Novavax Is Plunging Today
Shares of Novavax (NASDAQ: NVAX) are down by 13.2% as of 2:58 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, despite the company not reporting any news. However, it seems likely that the market is reacting to the comments made yesterday by Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), regarding the "durability" of a potential vaccine for the novel coronavirus.
Novavax has been one of the leaders in the race to develop a vaccine for COVID-19. The company recently announced the initiation of a phase 1/2 clinical trial to investigate the efficacy of its potential vaccine for COVID-19 -- NVX-CoV2373. The phase 1 part of this trial, to be conducted in Australia, will enroll 130 healthy adult volunteers and will test the vaccine's safety and its immunogenicity.
Preliminary results from the phase 1 part are expected in July. The phase 2 part of the trial will be held in the U.S. and several other countries. It will test the vaccine's safety, its ability to enhance immune responses, and its disease-reduction capabilities in a wider pool of participants.
Source Fool.com
