VXRT - Vaxart Falls 60% Despite Announcing Positive Clinical Trial Data

Vaxart (NASDAQ: VXRT) , an American biotechnology company, announced that its preliminary oral COVID-19 vaccine had demonstrated positive results in early-stage clinical trials featuring 35 healthy adults. Nevertheless, the company’s stock fell 60% during intraday trading.

“Our Phase I results highlight the importance of our differentiated vaccine design, as they suggest VXA-CoV2-1 could have broad activity against existing and future coronavirus strains. These results are timely, as we are seeing the emergence of new variants less responsive to first generation vaccines, thus making potential cross-reactivity another important advantage of next-generation vaccines,” said Andrei Floroiu, Vaxart’s Chief Executive Officer.

The participants, ages 18 to 54, were divided into three groups. The first group was given two low doses of the antidote, named VXA-CoV2-1, with a 29 day period in between. Meanwhile, the other groups were given just one low or high dose.

According to the company, 75% of volunteers who received a single low or high dose, generated T-cells that destroyed the virus-infected cells. However, Vaxart said that no neutralizing antibodies were found in the volunteers after the single dose. The company is now revising antibody responses for those who received two doses.

“The immune response is multifaceted,” said Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease specialist and professor at the University of Toronto, also stating that the lack of neutralizing antibodies could be the reason behind the plummet in shares. “While it’s great to see that there appears to be a decent T-cell response, the lack of antibodies detected is problematic and may reduce the effectiveness of this as a vaccine.”

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