Wall Street sees a 130% increase in Novavax following Sanofi’s multibillion dollar investment
The $1.4 billion deal would grant Sanofi a marketing license to start selling Novavax’s Covid-19 vaccine in 2025.
After revealing a multibillion-dollar agreement with French pharmaceutical company Sanofi that would enable the latter to market its Covid-19 vaccine and utilize the patented technology that powers it, American biotech Novavax shot up 130% on Wall Street on Friday.
In an unexpected turn of events, thirty minutes after the opening of the New York Stock Exchange, shares of Novavax shot up thirteen times to $10.35, a year after the company had warned that its existence was in jeopardy due to poor demand for its Covid-19 vaccine.
Known for its Covid-19 vaccine, which uses a protein-based adjuvant serum termed «Matrix-M» instead of messenger RNA technology like those of Pfizer and Moderna, Novavax was created in the late 1980s and specializes on infectious disease vaccines.
A Novavax statement states that Sanofi has been granted a license through 2025 to distribute Novavax’s Covid-19 vaccine globally, mix it with its vaccines against the flu and other diseases, and utilize Matrix-M in new vaccines that the company develops.
The contract is worth $1.4 billion. Novavax will receive $500 million as a direct payment up front, and it will also be eligible for future payments of $700 million and $200 million upon Sanofi meeting certain research, regulatory, launch, and sales objectives.
