What happened?Novavax shares (NASDAQ:NVAX), which had moved 4.2% higher earlier in today's trading session, were 2.3% higher as of Wednesday 12:03 p.m. ET. It's possible that the company's gains today could be due to Altimmune's (NASDAQ:ALT), abandoning its nasal COVID-19 vaccine following disappointing clinical results. Novavax could be continuing the momentum that started last week, however.What are you waiting for?Novavax's small jump is nothing to be excited about. Biotech stocks often move up or down by larger percentages without any obvious catalyst.Novavax's new NVX-CoV2373 will have one less competitor after Altimmune has decided to stop developing its nasal COVID vaccine candidate AdCOVID. AdCOVID was in phase 1 testing, so it wasn't considered a threat to any of Novavax's COVID vaccines.Novavax's prospects remain positive. A phase 3 study of NVX–CoV2373 was conducted in Mexico and the U.S. a few weeks ago. The company reported positive results. Novavax's COVID vaccine could see a greater market opportunity due to the emergence of worrying coronavirus variants.What now?Novavax's submissions for Emergency Use Authorizations of (EUAs), of NVX–CoV2373 are all being watched. According to the company, it plans to file EUAs in Europe, the U.K. and the U.S. in the third quarter.
