12:54 PM EST, 12/27/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Vaxart ( VXRT ) said on Friday it secured a $4.6 million increase in funding under a project agreement supported by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, raising the estimated ceiling for a mid-stage trial of its oral pill COVID-19 vaccine candidate to about $460.7 million.

Vaxart ( VXRT ) shares recently were more than 18% higher, maintaining their perch near an intra-day high of $0.72 per share. More than 4 million shares have changed hands during Friday trade compared with a daily average of about 1.3 million shares.

Grid Dynamics Holdings ( GDYN ) will replace Revelyst in the S&P SmallCap 600 index on Jan. 2, S&P Dow Jones Indices said late Thursday.

Shares of the technology consulting firm recently were ahead 9.3%, easing from a nearly 15% mid-morning advance to a new 52-week high of $24.16 a share. Trading volume also was running well ahead of its daily average of 576,000 shares, with investors already exchanging more than 1.7 million Grid Dynamics ( GDYN ) shares this afternoon.

UnitedHealth Group ( UNH ) and Amedisys ( AMED ) extended the deadline for completing their $3.3 billion merger agreement to the earlier of Dec. 31, 2025, or 10 days after a final decision in the Justice Department lawsuit seeking to block the deal, the companies disclosed in a regulatory filing on Friday.

Amedisys ( AMED ) shares recently were climbing about 4.6% to $89.93 each, staying within close range of their intra-day high of $90 per share. Trading volume also was stronger than usual, with nearly 1.2 million shares changing hands by midday compared with a daily average of about 545,000 shares.

Price: 0.72, Change: +0.11, Percent Change: +18.42