Vaxart, Inc. announced that it received a project award valued at up to $453 million through the Rapid Response Partnership Vehicle (RRPV). The funds will be used to conduct a Phase 2b comparative study evaluating Vaxart's oral pill COVID-19 vaccine candidate against a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved mRNA vaccine comparator. Funding under the award will be provided in two parts with approximately $65.7 million available immediately to continue study start-up activities, and the remainder of approximately $387.2 million provided when Vaxart and BARDA have determined that the study may further proceed and paid over the course of the study.

Vaxart was the first U.S. company to complete a Phase 2 clinical trial of an oral vaccine for COVID-19. In earlier clinical trials, Vaxart demonstrated its COVID-19 vaccine candidates generated robust cross-reactive mucosal IgA responses, boosted immune responses to existing COVID-19 vaccines, increased neutralizing antibodies against Omicron 4/5, and had a benign tolerability profile. Primary efficacy analysis will be performed when all participants have either discontinued or completed a study visit 12 months post-vaccination.