Stock Alert: Vaxart Hits New 52-week High As COVID-19 Vaccine Selected For OWS

(RTTNews) - Shares of Vaxart Inc. (VXRT) are surging more 90 percent or $5.65 in Friday's morning trade at $11.91 after touching a new 52-week high of $14.30 earlier. The clinical-stage biotechnology company's COVID-19 vaccine candidate has been selected for the U.S. Government's Operation Warp Speed or OWS.

Vaxart said that its oral COVID-19 vaccine has been chosen to participate in a non-human primate or NHP challenge study, organized and funded by Operation Warp Speed, a new national program aiming to provide substantial quantities of safe, effective vaccine for Americans by January 2021.

The study is designed to demonstrate the efficacy of Vaxart's oral COVID-19 vaccine candidate. Vaxart said its vaccine is the only oral vaccine being evaluated and it provides an enormous logistical advantage in large vaccination campaigns as it is a room temperature-stable tablet.

The stock has traded in a range of $0.25 to $14.30 in the past 52 weeks.