Novavax (NASDAQ: NVAX) shares jumped 20.08% to close at $12.56 on Monday, snapping a three-session losing streak. No specific Monday catalyst was confirmed; the freshest Nuvaxovid-related development came Friday, when Sanofi launched a U.S. vaccination-awareness campaign featuring NBA player Karl-Anthony Towns.
The stock climbed as high as $13.38 during the session, setting a new 52-week high above the previous $11.97 peak reached on Feb. 26. About 28 million shares changed hands during the session.
Friday Campaign Is New; Rollout Expansion Was Already Disclosed
Sanofi said the Towns campaign will use digital and social media activations to raise awareness of COVID-19 vaccination options. It also reiterated that it now holds Nuvaxovid marketing authorization in the U.S., European Union, and U.K., and is expanding availability to the U.K., Germany, and Canada from 2026 onward.
That geographic expansion was not newly disclosed Friday. Novavax said on Aug. 6 that Sanofi was broadening commercial activity in the U.S. and launching Nuvaxovid in the U.K., Germany, and Canada, leaving the Towns campaign itself as the fresh commercial development.
The commercialization model gives Novavax direct economic exposure to Sanofi’s sales without requiring Novavax to lead the global sales effort. Novavax said it is eligible for royalties in the high-teens to low-twenties percentage range on Sanofi’s global net Nuvaxovid sales and will sell Nuvaxovid commercial supply to Sanofi for the 2026–27 season.
The XFG-adapted formulation had already received partner-led approvals in the U.S., EU and Japan for the 2026–27 season.
In the U.S., FDA approval covers adults 65 and older and people ages 12 through 64 with at least one underlying condition that puts them at high risk for severe COVID-19. Each dose contains recombinant spike protein from the JN.1-descendent XFG lineage with Novavax’s Matrix-M adjuvant.
