Vaxart Jumps 12% On Positive Data From Oral Covid-19 Vaccine Study

(RTTNews) - Shares of Vaxart Inc. (VXRT) jumped over 12% in extended hours on Thursday driven by positive results form oral Covid-19 vaccine.

A Duke University-led study published in bioRxiv confirmed previous findings that Vaxart's investigational oral tablet vaccine reduced the airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 virus more than injectable vaccines.

Study suggests mucosal vaccines may protect not only vaccinated, but also unvaccinated animals.

These results are consistent with those from Vaxart's Phase II human flu challenge study, which showed that Vaxart's oral tablet vaccine was better at reducing shedding than the injectable flu vaccine.

Vaxart said that the limitation of the currently approved injected COVID-19 vaccines is that airborne transmission occurs in people who have received them.

"These findings show that our vaccine candidate can reduce transmission of SARS-CoV-2, even when there is infection breakthrough in vaccinated subjects," said Dr. Sean Tucker, the study's lead author and Chief Scientific Officer at Vaxart.

"Existing injected vaccines don't always protect against viral shedding and transmission to other people. A vaccine that reduces shedding and reduces the probability of infection could make a big difference in protecting lives and public health, particularly given the large number of unvaccinated individuals. This study used the same vaccine candidate Vaxart is using in its development of an oral tablet vaccine," added Dr. Tucker.

Earlier this week, Vaxart initiated recruiting for a global Phase II clinical trial of its oral tablet COVID-19 vaccine candidate, which targets the SARS-CoV-2 viral spike (S) protein.

VXRT closed Thursday's trading at $7.09, down $0.01 or 0.14%, on the Nasdaq. The stock, however, gained $0.86 or 12.13%, in the after-hours trade.