H.C. Wainwright reiterates Top Pick Buy on Novavax after partnership extension

H.C. Wainwright analyst Vernon Bernardino notes that the firm’s 2023 Top Pick Novavax announced that the company and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services modified its existing agreement with HHS, and its collaborator, the U.S. Department of Defense, to secure delivery of up to 1.5M doses of Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine, NVX-CoV2373. The firm is positive on the news as the modified agreement includes development of an updated Novavax CoV vaccine, which it believes should pave the way to smooth transition of the company’s vaccine into commercialization. H.C. Wainwright looks for initial data from the ongoing Phase 2 trial of the company’s CoV plus seasonal influenza combination vaccine candidate as a catalyst in mid-2023, and reiterates a Buy rating and $110 price target on the shares.