Novavax Stock Soars On FDA Clearance For Updated Covid-19 Shot: What's Going On?

Novavax Inc NVAX shares are surging Tuesday afternoon after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Emergency Use Authorization for the company's Covid-19 vaccine, Adjuvanted (2023-2024 Formula) to prevent Covid in individuals aged 12 and older.

What To Know: The FDA has authorized the updated version of Novavax's protein-based Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use in individuals 12 years of age and older, per Reuters.

The news comes less than a month after the FDA approved an updated vaccine from Moderna Inc MRNA, as well as the vaccine jointly produced by Pfizer Inc PFE and BioNTech SE BNTX for the fall. The vaccines are expected to offer protection against current Covid strains. 

The Novavax vaccine is reportedly based on an older technology than the messenger RNA vaccines. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been 1,144,539 Covid-related deaths and more than 6.3 million hospitalizations in the U.S. There have been a total of 770,875,433 confirmed cases and 6,959,316 deaths worldwide reported to the World Health Organization as of Sept. 27.

From Last Week: Bill Gates Applauds Nobel Laureates Katalin Kariko And Drew Weissman Behind Revolutionary mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines

NVAX Price Action: Novavax shares were up 13.3% at $8.05 at the time of publication, according to Benzinga Pro.

Photo: Jernej Furman from Flickr.