Vaxart, Inc. ( VXRT ) shares traded higher in the premarket session on Friday, up more than 23% at one point.

Vaxart’s average session volume was about 1.6 million. Friday premarket’s session volume had exceeded four million at the time of writing.

Yesterday, Vaxart ( VXRT ) obtained a project award worth $453 million through the Rapid Response Partnership Vehicle, supported by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority under the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The funding from the award will be disbursed in two installments, with an initial sum of about $65.7 million accessible immediately to facilitate ongoing study start-up endeavors.

These funds are designated for conducting a Phase 2b comparative study, which will assess Vaxart’s oral pill COVID-19 vaccine candidate against an FDA-approved mRNA vaccine comparator.

Vaxart ( VXRT ) expects to commence enrollment as soon as summer 2024, with a potential interim analysis of vaccine efficacy compared to an approved mRNA comparator by the first quarter of 2025.

This funding from BARDA will assist us in determining whether we can bring a transformational, next-generation approach to global vaccination,” said Steven Lo, Vaxart’s Chief Executive Officer.

That’s not all!

Vaxart ( VXRT ) also announced an underwritten offering of 50 million shares of its common stock at an offering price of $0.80 per share. This represents a premium of over 6% to the last closing price of $0.75 per share.

The offering by Vaxart ( VXRT ) is anticipated to generate gross proceeds of approximately $40 million prior to deductions for underwriting discounts, commissions, and estimated offering expenses.

It is projected to conclude around June 17, 2024, pending standard closing conditions.

Price Action: VXRT shares are trading lower by 7.68% to $0.69 at last check on Friday.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.November 18th, 2023

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