Feds Inject $9.27m into Penny Stock Recombinant Protein-Based Platform Developer for COVID-19 Vaccine

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the XBB version of the Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant has all but disappeared from circulation in the United States. The mutant JN.1 now predominates COVID-19 cases in circulation at an estimated 85.7%. While markedly different, JN.1 (BA.2.86.1.1) emerged last September and has been classified with BA.2.86 due to its ascendancy from that lineage. BA.2.86 emerged last summer with concerns due to the extensive mutations, however, thus far the strain hasn’t exhibited a significant surge and unfolding science suggests the pathogen shares similarities with previous strains of SARS-CoV-2 including XBB. This means COVID-19 vaccines developed for XBB should still be effective, or that’s the logic. Now, the Biden Administration’s NextGen initiative, the $5 billion program to continuously fund COVID-19 countermeasures despite the lack of an emergency injects $9.27 million to pay for a Phase 2b clinical trial testing an investigational vaccine developed thus far to XBB. An orally administered pill based on attacking the SARS-CoV-2 pathogen which enters mucosal regions including the gut. The product that purportedly can be manufactured rapidly and can be stored at room temperature making supply chain logistics far easier than the current leading COVID-19 vaccines. Developed by publicly traded, penny stock Vaxart, Inc.  (Nasdaq VXRT), the company is now afforded the opportunity to advance its Vector-Adjuvant-Antigen Standardized Technology (VAAST™) down the clinical pipeline thanks to the United States Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) funding. The company’s financial position has been tenuous and dealing with a hedge fund led to shareholder lawsuits alleging insider trading. The company’s stock presently trades at $0.74.

Before delving into the challenges with this company and the possible logic of the Biden administration’s NexGen initiative targeting such a financially risky venture for next-generation vaccine development, a review of the investigational product.