Novavax Inc. (NVAX) Provides a great investment opportunity but bears a caveat

The United States lifted its ban on exporting an ingredient critical for producing the COVID-19 vaccine last week. Novavax Inc. (NASDAQ: NVAX), a biotechnology company impacted by this decision, can now ramp up production.

U.S. officials have used the Defense Production Act to prevent the export of vital raw materials needed for manufacturing COVID-19 vaccines for months. Numerous vaccine manufacturers were stymied by this issue, including Novavax, which has a contract with the Indian Serum Institute for over 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine to be distributed to developing countries. Due to export restrictions, the project has been suspended, but now Novavax can fulfil its obligations.

Novavax Inc. (NASDAQ: NVAX) has a high sales potential, despite coming to market later than competitors. It is expected that Novavax will apply to the FDA for permission to use the combination vaccine in human research in July. The development of the vaccine is based on the successfully tested NVX-CoV2373 vaccine for coronaviruses and the NanoFlu vaccine against various influenza strains. In animal trials, the combination vaccine showed significantly higher antibodies against influenza and COVID-19 when both vaccines were administered independently at separate times. Similarly, the experimental animals did not experience a relapse of the Coronavirus or pneumonia after being infected with SARS-CoV-2. In response to news of the likely impending expansion of Novavax’s production, the company’s shares rose more than 20% last week. 

Shares of Novavax Inc. (NASDAQ: NVAX) have gained 6.57% to $195.04 in the last session. At the close of the previous trading session, Novavax’s stock was trading at $183.01. The stock registered a trading volume of 3.64 million shares, above the average daily trading volume over the previous 50 days of 3.49 million shares. Novavax Inc. has gained 32.12% in the last five days, but it has also gained 13.05% over the past month. So far this year, the stock price has gained 74.91 % and gained 23.54 % over the last three months. Moreover, its price to cash flow ratio is 23.84, while its sales ratio is 14.92.

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