US govt secures 3.2 million doses of Novavax COVID-19 vaccine

The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in collaboration with the Department of Defense (DoD), announced that it has secured 3.2 million doses of Novavax’ (Nasdaq: NVAX) COVID-19 vaccine (NVX-CoV2373).

Despite what seemed positive news for the company, Novavax’ shares closed down almost 12%, and a further 2% to $65.80 in after-hours trading on Monday.

The protein-based, adjuvanted vaccine will be made available for free to states, jurisdictions, federal pharmacy partners, and federally qualified health centers if it receives US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Emergency Use Authorization (EUA), and recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The company is expected to complete all necessary quality testing in the next few weeks, which would support final release of the product.