Piper Jaffray Reiterates Overweight Rating on Novavax on Initiation Of Phase I H7N9 Avian Flu Study

In a report published on Monday, Piper Jaffray analyst Edward A. Tenthoff reiterated an Overweight rating and a $3 price target on

. In the report, Piper Jaffray stated, "This morning, Novavax began enrollment of a Phase I study of its monovalent virus- like particle (VLP) vaccine candidate for H7N9 avian flu. Remarkably, Novavax moved into Phase I studies in only 3 months since the H7N9 gene sequence was identified, demonstrating the speed with which Novavax can discover its VLP vaccine candidates. Similarly, Novavax rapidly developed a vaccine candidate against the MERS-CoV Coronavirus, both of which could be procured in case of a pandemic emergency. This alacrity is one of the reasons Novavax was awarded a $97 million BARDA contract to develop pandemic and seasonal flu vaccines." Novavax closed on Friday at $2.62.