By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com – Novavax stock (NASDAQ:NVAX) jumped 4.2% Tuesday after the company’s Covid-19 vaccine secured emergency use approval from India’s drug regulator.
The approval to Novavax comes at a time when Omicron-related cases are beginning to spike in the country though they are still few in number and hospitalization rates remain low.
Earlier this month, the company said its two-dose Covid-19 vaccine demonstrated “strong immune responses” against Omicron and other variants. A third dose given six months after showed an even stronger response, the company said.
The vaccines will be made by Serum Institute of India, which also makes AstraZeneca's (NASDAQ:AZN) Covid-19 shots for both Indian and foreign markets.
India, the world’s second most populous nation, was one of the world’s most affected by the pandemic, mostly owing to the delta variant that raged through the country in April-May.
The country has mostly relied on AstraZeneca’s vaccine and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin to vaccinate its citizens. More than 1 billion people have got at least one shot of the vaccine in the country. More than 61% of the eligible population has got both the doses.
Novavax’s vaccine has been approved by the WHO, the EU, Indonesia and the Philippines. The company expects to apply for FDA approval by Friday.