Novavax (NVAX) filed a prospectus to sell up to $250 million of shares of common stock as it prepares to scale up production of its coronavirus vaccine candidate.Shares in Novavax jumped 31% to close at $56.96 in U.S. trading on Monday after their value more than doubled over the past month.The late-stage biotech company, which is in the process of developing a coronavirus antigen vaccine candidate, said that the net proceeds from the sale of common stock will depend on the number of shares actually sold and the offering price for such shares. The company based its calculation on the event that all of the offered shares would be sold at $43.63, the closing price per share on May 15.“We intend to use the net proceeds from this offering for general corporate purposes, including but not limited to working capital, capital expenditures, research and development expenditures, clinical trial expenditures, as well as acquisitions and other strategic purposes,” Novavax said in the prospectus filing.The offering comes after Novavax announced last week that it will receive $384 million in funding from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to develop and produce its coronavirus vaccine candidate. The biotech company has set itself the aim of producing up to 100 million vaccine doses by end of 2020. For 2021, it is planning to target large-scale manufacturing capacity in multiple countries with a goal of potentially producing over one billion doses during the year.Five-star analyst Mayank Mamtani at B. Riley FBR on Monday raised his price target on the biotech stock to $53 a share from $43 and kept his Buy rating, following a meeting with Novavax management to review progress on on its COVID-19 vaccine development.“We believe NVAX not only offers a clinically validated adjuvanted recombinant nanoparticle platform (recently reporting overwhelmingly positive data in the Ph. III NanoFlu) but, also, demonstrates the ability to illicit a potent immune response at extremely low doses, boding favorably for both safety and scalability, with management guiding to 100M doses by YE20 and >1B during 2021,” Mamtani wrote in a note to investors. “With a regulatory path becoming relatively clearer, likely on the basis of Ph. IIb results by leveraging Emergency Use Authorization (EUA), we increase the probability of success, from 25% to 40%, which drives our PT increase.”The rest of Wall Street analysts covering the stock in the past three months join Mamtani in their recommendation to Buy the shares adding up to a Strong Buy consensus. Following the stock’s rally, the $47.60 average price target indicates 16% downside potential in the coming 12 months. (See Novavax stock analysis on TipRanks).Related News: Novavax Spikes 31% on $384 Million Cash Injection for Vaccine Production AstraZeneca, Daiichi Get FDA Breakthrough Status For Gastro Cancer Drug Seres Therapeutics Reports Weak Earnings, But Significant Upside Lies Ahead More recent articles from Smarter Analyst: * Bluebird Prices New Shares At $55, Seeks To Raise $500 Million * Dynavax Explodes 40% In Pre-Market On Phase 1 Covid-19 Vaccine News * GameStop Pops 5% Amid ‘Significant Progress’ On Turnaround Plan * Carvana Sinks 7% In Pre-Market On Public Offering Of 5M Shares
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Bluebird Bio (BLUE) priced an offering of 9.09 million shares of its common stock at $55 each, the company said late on Monday.The gene therapy company, which expects the offering to close on May 21, seeks to raise gross proceeds of about $500 million from the sale. Shares in Bluebird were down 0.2% at $57 in Tuesday’s pre-market trading in the U.S. after plunging 34% year-to-date.Bluebird is also giving the underwriters a 30-day option to buy up to an additional 1.36 million shares in common stock. Goldman Sachs, BofA Securities and Cowen are acting as joint book-running managers of the offering.Last week, Bluebird announced that its partner Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY) will pay the company $200 million to buy out future royalty obligations of its two jointly developed cancer therapies ide-cel and bb21217.Five-star analyst Mark Breidenbach at Oppenheimer, maintained a Buy rating on the stock with a $111 price target, after meeting with Bluebird’s management.“FDA approval of ide-cel remains a top priority for both Bluebird and its partner Bristol-Myers Squibb, especially given BMY’s investment in trials aimed at future label expansions,” Breidenbach wrote in a note to investors. “We believe bb2121 has potential for rapid development in r/r MM, and we project its commercial approval in 2021.”Overall, Wall Street analysts are cautiously optimistic on the company’s stock. Out of 13 analysts, 10 have Buy ratings and 3 have issued Hold ratings adding up to a Moderate Buy consensus. The $99.73 average price target provides investors with 75% upside potential should the target be met in the next 12 months. (See Bluebird stock analysis on TipRanks)Related News: Bristol Myers to Pay Bluebird $200 Million in Royalties For Cancer Drugs Novavax Seeks To Raise $250 Million From Share Sale; Top Analyst Bumps Up PT AstraZeneca, Daiichi Get FDA Breakthrough Status For Gastro Cancer Drug More recent articles from Smarter Analyst: * Dynavax Explodes 40% In Pre-Market On Phase 1 Covid-19 Vaccine News * GameStop Pops 5% Amid ‘Significant Progress’ On Turnaround Plan * Carvana Sinks 7% In Pre-Market On Public Offering Of 5M Shares * Tesla’s China Car Registrations Plummet In April- LMC Auto