H.C. Wainwright analyst Vernon Bernardino raised the firm’s price target on Novavax to $317 from $207 and reiterates a Buy rating on the shares. The stock in premarket trading is up 17%, or $31.12, to $218.75. Novavax last night announced final efficacy for NVXCoV2373, the company’s protein-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate, of 96.4% against mild, moderate and severe disease caused by the original COVID-19 strain in a pivotal Phase 3 trial in the U.K., Mamtani tells investors in a research note. The analyst says that with results pointing to NVX-CoV2373’s “real-world high level of efficacy” against emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants that could be resistant to currently authorized vaccines, he’s confident in NVX-CoV2373 demonstrating high vaccine efficacy in the ongoing Phase 3 trial in the U.S. and Mexico and its possible Emergency Use Authorization in Q2. Further, Bernardino says that with Novavax’s “ability to rapidly adapt its nanoparticle vaccine technology to emerging strains of virus, as was demonstrated with its NanoFlu seasonal influenza vaccine’s high immunogenicity against drifted strains of influenza virus,” he likes the company’s prospects for a future role in COVID-19. The company’s “established and growing global vaccine supply and distribution agreements are second to none,” says the analyst.