$NVAX: Swine Flu Stocks Live On
March 24th, 2010 at 1:27 pm Posted by
If you think the frenzy over swine flu stocks is over, The Dean wants to teach all of his students a little lesson about $NVAX.
Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ: NVAX) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on creating differentiated, value-added vaccines that improve upon preventive options for a range of infectious diseases.
Using advanced proprietary virus-like (VLP) technology, the company produces recombinant vaccines utilizing new and efficient manufacturing approaches, $NVAX has been targeting research efforts on various strains of viral influenza, including H1N1 (swine flu), H5N1 (bird flu) and season influenza.
Virus-like particles (VLPs) are believed to mimic the external structure of viruses but lack the live genetic material that causes viral replication and infection. Such vaccines can be designed quickly to match individual viral strains and be produced efficiently using portable cell-culture technology.
This morning, $NVAX announced positive clinical results from its two-stage “pivotal study evaluating the safety and immunogenicity” of the company’s 2009 A/H1N1 virus-like particle (VLP) pandemic influenza vaccine.
The study, which was conducted at the Mexican Institute of Social Security, confirmed that a single dose of 15 micrograms was optimal to induce robust immune responses in broader age populations (ages 18 to 64) with a highly satisfactory safety profile.
Today’s press release also tells the medical and investment worlds that enrollment of 2,500 volunteers for Stage B of this pivotal study was completed earlier this month.
So far today, $NVAX has traded up as much as 16% from yesterday’s close, on nearly 4 times its 3 month average volume.
The Dean believes $NVAX has seen its ups and downs because of the massive amounts of cash poured into these types of clinical trials. However, The Dean thinks today’s movement (and perhaps the rest of the week) indicates that the investment world acknowledges that $NVAX has developed an effective treatment for H1N1.
The Dean wants all of his students to do their homework on $NVAX and keep in mind that H1N1 (and H5N1) are still potential dangers around the globe.
