Novavax's (NVAX) COVID-19 Booster Recommended in Switzerland

Novavax, Inc. NVAX announced that Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) has recommended the use of its protein-based COVID-19 vaccine, Nuvaxovid (NVX-CoV2373), as a heterologous and homologous booster dose in adults aged 18 years and above in Switzerland.

Following the FOPH recommendation, Nuvaxovid can now be administered as a booster dose in adults irrespective of whether or not the primary vaccine regimen series was completed with Nuvaxovid.

This decision by FOPH will enable Novavax to target a larger segment of the adult population in Switzerland, who have already completed a primary vaccination series with a vaccine of another company but are yet to receive a booster dose.

Last month, Swissmedic, the Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products, extended the temporary authorization of Nuvaxovid for use in adolescents aged 12-17 and as a booster dose for adults 18 years and older.

Swissmedic had previously granted temporary authorization to Nuvaxovid for use in adults 18 years or older earlier this year.

As a booster dose, the Nuvaxovid vaccine has already been authorized for use in New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Israel and the European Union.

Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine was granted authorization for use in adolescents aged 12-17 in the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, India and several other countries earlier this year.

In a separate press release, Novavax announced that its partner, SK bioscience has submitted a Post Approval Change Application to the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, for use of Nuvaxovid as a heterologous and homologous booster in adults aged 18 years and above. The vaccine is already approved in South Korea for primary vaccination in the country.

The Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised that Nuvaxovid can be used off-label as a booster dose in adults last month.

Shares of Novavax were up 9.1% on Monday, following the announcement of positive developments related to Nuvaxovid in Switzerland and South Korea. However, the stock has plunged 87.6% so far this year compared with the industry’s decline of 27.7%.

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Despite being one of few companies to obtain authorizations for its COVID-19 vaccine in several countries worldwide, Novavax faces certain challenges for the vaccine to grow as it is a late entrant in the COVID-19 vaccine market, which is dominated by Pfizer PFE/BioNTech BNTX and Moderna MRNA.

Though most of the population is already vaccinated with the primary vaccine dose, booster doses are still pending so there can be demand for boosters, which might be beneficial for NVAX to gain a strong foothold in the COVID-19 vaccines market.

Meanwhile, in September 2022, U.S. President Joe Biden said that the pandemic is over in the United States in an interview over the weekend on “60 Minutes” on CBS News. This resulted in a decline in stocks of PFE/BNTX, MRNA and NVAX.

The President said that though there was still a problem with COVID and a “lot of work” was going on for that, the pandemic was over. He said that the fact that no one is wearing masks suggests the pandemic is over in the country.

Pharma giant, Pfizer’s stock was hurt by Biden’s comment as its COVID-19 vaccine and antiviral, Paxlovid, accounts for almost half of its revenues.

Stocks of Moderna, BioNTech and Novavax are expected to decline in the long run as their sales and profits will fall once the pandemic ends. This is because COVID-related vaccines and products were their only top-line drivers.

Zacks Rank

Novavax currently carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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