Novavax's Record Stock Run: What Investors Need To Know

It has been an exciting few days for coronavirus vaccine developer Novavax, Inc. NVAX, as continuing vaccine news flow pushes the stock to new highs.

Novavax's Breathtaking Run: Novavax was among the best-performing stocks of 2020, gaining about 2,700%.

The stock did come under pressure in the second half of 2020 amid delays in the start of late-stage trials in the U.S. and Mexico, insider selling and approvals for rival vaccines.

With the company putting its vaccine program on track, the shares began to regain some of the lost momentum in late 2020.

The stock, which was locked in the $120-$130 range for much of January, took a giant leap of faith on Jan. 29, with the catalyst being the release interim Phase 3 data from the U.K. study.

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Novavax gained about 65% in a single session before closing at $220.94.

The stock went from strength to strength in the next few sessions amid company's vaccine program updates.

Vaccine Program Rapidly Moves Forward: The U.K. leg of the Phase 3 trial showed that NVX-CoV2373 was 89.3% efficacious in preventing COVID-19, the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2.

The investigational vaccine was also found effective against the emergent South African variant, although efficacy was lower.

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Novavax announced Tuesday the signing of a memorandum with the Canadian government to produce NVX-CoV2373 in Canada. The company has contracted to supply up to 76 million doses of the vaccine to Canada.

On Wednesday, the company announced an agreement to supply 6 million doses of the vaccine candidate to the Swiss government.

Late Thursday, Novavax confirmed initiation of rolling review with the drug regulatory agencies in the U.S., EU, U.K. and Canada.

What Lies Ahead For Novavax: The completion of the ongoing trials in the U.S., U.K. and South Africa will provide a complete dataset for review by regulatory agencies. Much of the data will be released by the first quarter, paving the way for approval for potential emergency use.

The company's vaccine candidate holds a logistical advantage, as it can be shipped using existing vaccine supply chain channels.

NVX-CoV2373's ready-to-use liquid formulation, which is stable under refrigerated conditions, confers a distinctive logistical advantage.

The company has manufacturing and supply deals in eight geographies around the world, and expects to have annual capacity of over 2 billion doses.

Given these catalysts in the near-term, a further run in the shares cannot be ruled out.

NVAX Price Action: At last check, Novavax shares were jumping 5.11% to $295.27. 

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