Israeli Health Ministry to Buy 5M Doses of Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine

Novavax, Inc. (Nasdaq: NVAX) has entered into a deal with Israel’s Ministry of Health under which the latter has agreed to buy five million doses of the former’s protein-based COVID-19 vaccine. The ministry also holds an option to purchase an additional five million doses.

Shares of the company gained 2.5% in Friday’s extended trading session to close at $85.02.

The vaccine is yet to receive regulatory approval. The company said it would be working with the Ministry of Health to obtain the necessary authorizations and finalize plans for its distribution in Israel.

Novavax’s vaccine has shown high efficacy in both the Phase 3 clinical trials — PREVENT-19 with about 30,000 participants in the U.S. and Mexico, and a trial with almost 15,000 participants in the U.K.

The President and CEO of Novavax, Stanley C. Erck, said, “Israel has been at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19 and has demonstrated strong leadership throughout the pandemic. We thank the Israeli Ministry of Health for their commitment to providing a protein-based COVID-19 vaccine option, based on well-understood technology, to the people of Israel.”

Stock Rating

Recently, B.Riley Financial analyst Mayank Mamtani assigned a Buy rating to Novavax and raised the price target to $315 from $305. The new price target implies 279.9% upside potential from current levels.

Consensus among analysts is a Strong Buy based on 4 Buys and 1 Hold. The average Novavax price target stands at $243.60 and implies upside potential of 193.8% to current levels.

News Sentiment

News Sentiment for Novavax is Positive based on 39 articles over the past seven days. About 71% of the articles have Bullish sentiment, compared to a sector average of 61%, and 29% have Bearish Sentiment, compared to a sector average of 39%.

Download the TipRanks mobile app now

To find good ideas for stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks’ Best Stocks to Buy, a newly launched tool that unites all of TipRanks’ equity insights.

Read full Disclaimer & Disclosure