Novavax Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX) saw its shares leap nearly 24% in pre-market trading on Thursday following news after-hours on Wednesday that a study into its new flu vaccine approach showed stronger results than the standard flu vaccine.
In a statement, the Nasdaq-listed firm said its study showed better results than the current vaccine in three areas, with the most important being response to the H3N2 flu strain.
Vaccine 47% to 64% more effective
That strain has been partly blamed for this flu season being one of the worst on record and an article in the New England Journal of Medicine claimed that this year's vaccine is only 10% effective against that strain.
Novavax said that its NanoFlu recombinant vaccine was 47% to 64% more effective against different strains of H3N2 than the standard flu vaccine.
In pre-market New York trading, Novavax shares were up 23.9% at US$2.69.