By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com – Novavax stock (NASDAQ:NVAX) surged more than 5% Friday after the World Health Organization validated the company’s Covid-19 vaccine.
The company now awaits the European drug regulator’s nod which should, according to Financial Times, come next week.
The WHO's endorsement paves the way for the company and its partner, Serum Institute of India, to ship doses to the Covax program, providing another vaccine to low-income countries.
The protein-based vaccine by Novavax has shown to be more than 90% effective, including against a variety of concerning coronavirus variants. The company plans to begin commercial manufacturing of a vaccine tailored to the highly transmissible Omicron coronavirus variant in January, according to Reuters.
Novavax's shot has received authorization for emergency use in Indonesia and the Philippines, and the company has filed for similar approvals in U.K., U.A.E., Australia, New Zealand, India, Canada, Singapore and Japan. The WHO nod should make the clearance easier.
Novavax expects to file with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration by the end of the year.
The company has been late in bringing its Covid vaccine to market, held back by manufacturing challenges, which have since been addressed.