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On Monday, Oppenheimer reaffirmed its Outperform rating on Vaxart Inc. (NASDAQ:VXRT) with a steady price target of $4.00, representing significant upside from the current share price of $0.51. The $115 million market cap biotechnology company recently encountered a halt in its Phase 2b study of an oral COVID-19 vaccine due to a stop work order from ATI/BARDA. The unexpected order was received on Friday, and Vaxart’s management is actively seeking further details.
Cheng Li of Oppenheimer highlighted that the reason behind the order is not entirely clear at this moment. According to InvestingPro data, the company has been quickly burning through cash, though it maintains more cash than debt on its balance sheet. Li suggested that the halt might be attributed to the recent shifts within the Health and Human Services (HHS) under the new administration rather than any new scientific data or dwindling interest in the vaccine trial.
Oppenheimer’s analysis comes after Vaxart and ATI/BARDA amended their agreement, which now provides approximately $240.1 million in total funding for the Phase 2b trial. This amendment is seen as a sign of BARDA’s ongoing commitment to Vaxart’s oral vaccine project.
The firm expects that Vaxart will provide more information once they have a better understanding of the situation. Investors and stakeholders are looking forward to further updates that will shed light on the future of the vaccine study and Vaxart’s collaboration with BARDA.
In other recent news, Vaxart, Inc. announced an amendment to its funding agreement with Advanced Technology International, which increases financial support for its Phase 2b clinical trial of an oral COVID-19 vaccine candidate by approximately $105.9 million, bringing the total funding to around $240.1 million. This trial aims to evaluate the vaccine’s efficacy and safety compared to an FDA-approved mRNA vaccine, with plans to enroll 10,000 participants. In a separate development, Vaxart received stop work orders on a government-funded project, which mandates a 90-day halt on activities related to a project agreement with Advanced Technology International, excluding specific follow-up efforts for a 400-person cohort. Additionally, Vaxart has been granted an extension to regain compliance with Nasdaq’s minimum bid price requirement, giving the company until June 30, 2025, to meet the criteria. Meanwhile, the company has appointed Kevin Finney, a seasoned healthcare executive, to its Board of Directors, succeeding Robert A. Yedid. Vaxart’s norovirus vaccine program is also progressing, with a Phase 1 trial set to begin in the first half of 2025. Furthermore, Vaxart is advancing its Phase 2b COVID-19 vaccine trial after receiving a recommendation to continue from an independent Data and Safety Monitoring Board. These developments reflect significant movements in Vaxart’s ongoing efforts to advance its vaccine technology.
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