Vaxart Q2 Earnings Call Highlights

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Sun, August 9, 2026 at 11:03 PM GMT+3 6 min read

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Vaxart reported favorable 12-month safety data from its 400-person Phase II-B COVID-19 vaccine sentinel cohort, with no vaccine-related serious complications. The larger, roughly 5,000-participant cohort is fully enrolled, with top-line data expected in the first half of 2027, pending BARDA approval.
BARDA provided $29 million to fund expanded safety, immunogenicity and efficacy analyses, including mucosal antibody testing, cellular biomarkers and genomic sequencing across the main study cohort.
Vaxart ended Q2 2026 with $64 million in cash and short-term investments, enough to fund operations into Q2 2027 under its current plan. The company is still seeking a norovirus vaccine partner and has revised board leadership and committee structures following a shareholder cooperation agreement.

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Vaxart (OTCMKTS:VXRT) said it has reported positive 12-month safety data from the 400-participant Sentinel cohort of its Phase II-B COVID-19 vaccine trial and remains on track to disclose top-line data from the larger, approximately 5,000-participant main cohort in the first half of 2027.

The company discussed the clinical update, financial position, partnership efforts and governance changes during a stockholder fireside chat. Vaxart's Phase II-B COVID-19 study is funded through the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority's, or BARDA's, Project NextGen initiative.

Sentinel Cohort Shows Favorable Safety Profile

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Chief Medical Officer Dr. James F. Cummings said the Sentinel cohort was designed primarily to evaluate safety before expansion into the larger study population. In the cohort, 201 participants received Vaxart's oral COVID-19 vaccine candidate targeting the XBB variant, while 199 received an approved injectable mRNA vaccine comparator.

According to Cummings, there were no vaccine-related serious health complications and no severe or long-lasting adverse events in either group over the 12-month period.

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The most commonly reported side effects among oral-vaccine recipients were mild-to-moderate fatigue, reported by 20.9% of participants; headache, reported by 18.9%; and loss of appetite, reported by about 10%. Fewer than 10% of oral-vaccine recipients reported other side effects, he said.

Among mRNA vaccine recipients, more than 60% reported injection-site pain, while 40.2% reported injection-site tenderness. Other reported side effects included fatigue in 35.2% of participants, muscle pain in 33.2%, and headache in 28.6%. Cummings said between 10% and 15% of mRNA recipients reported joint pain, chills, nausea, diarrhea and arm swelling.

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There were 33 symptomatic COVID-19 cases in the oral-vaccine arm and 30 in the mRNA comparator arm. Each group recorded 12 asymptomatic cases. However, Cummings emphasized that the 400-person Sentinel cohort was not designed or powered to establish statistically significant differences in vaccine efficacy.

The larger main cohort, which was vaccinated against the KP.2 variant and is fully enrolled, is intended to evaluate comparative safety and relative efficacy. Vaxart expects the complete data set, including the Sentinel and main cohorts, to be released in the first half of 2027, subject to BARDA approval of the timing and content of disclosures.

BARDA Funding Supports Expanded Analyses

Chief Executive Officer Steve Lo said a June contract modification with BARDA released dedicated funding for additional scientific analyses. Cummings said $29 million under the modification will support final study execution as well as expanded exploratory safety, immunogenicity and efficacy analyses.

Those analyses include deeper sub-variant genomic sequencing and extended mucosal and cellular biomarker profiling across the more than 5,000 participants in the main cohort. The company also plans to evaluate mucosal immunity, including antibodies in the nose and mouth where respiratory viruses enter the body.

Cummings said some of this work had originally been contemplated as a second phase after initial data reporting. BARDA agreed to fund the work before final study completion, he said. The agency retains authority over the release of study readouts under the terms of the contract.

Founder and Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Sean Tucker said Vaxart's platform generates mucosal immunoglobulin A, or IgA, responses and that the company believes IgA may have a greater ability to handle viral variation than IgG. He said prior studies had shown broad cross-reactivity from the company's oral COVID-19 vaccine candidate, though further conclusions about durability and variant coverage will depend on analysis of the current Phase II-B data.

Norovirus Partnership Efforts Continue

Vaxart continues to pursue a partner for its norovirus vaccine program, which Lo described as a significant unmet need. He said the company is taking a disciplined approach to partnership discussions and will not disclose valuation ranges under discussion.

Lo characterized Moderna's recent decision to extend enrollment in its Phase III norovirus study for another season as a "mixed blessing." While the delay could provide Vaxart with a competitive advantage, he said prospective partners are also considering the longer timeline and prior setbacks in the norovirus field, including HilleVax's failed program.

Tucker said Vaxart believes intestinal antibodies are important for protection against norovirus and that its oral tablet could potentially provide stronger intestinal antibody responses than an injected vaccine. If Vaxart does not secure a suitable commercial partner, Lo said the company is also evaluating non-dilutive funding sources, including governments outside the U.S.

The company removed a projected norovirus timeline from its corporate presentation because a Phase II start remains contingent on securing funding, Lo said.

Second-Quarter Financial Results and Governance Changes

Chief Financial Officer Jeroen Grasman said Vaxart ended the second quarter of 2026 with $64 million in cash equivalents and short-term investments. Based on its current operating plan, the company expects its capital to fund operations into the second quarter of 2027.

Second-quarter revenue was $27.2 million, compared with $39.7 million in the prior-year quarter.
Revenue primarily came from the BARDA contract, along with $2.9 million from Vaxart's license and collaboration agreement with Dynavax.
Research and development expense fell to $33.7 million from $49.7 million a year earlier.
General and administrative expense was $6.6 million.
Net loss was $13.5 million, or $0.06 per share, compared with a net loss of $15 million, or $0.07 per share, in the second quarter of 2025.

Grasman said Vaxart also has access to a $25 million share purchase agreement with Lincoln Park Capital. The company is prioritizing financial discipline and evaluating government grants, nonprofit funding and strategic partnerships as potential non-dilutive funding sources.

Separately, Lo outlined governance actions following a cooperation agreement with a shareholder group. Vaxart reorganized board leadership, appointed new committee chairs, and is creating a Stockholder Engagement Committee and a Clinical and Regulatory Affairs Committee. The company is also seeking an additional independent director in collaboration with the shareholder group.

About Vaxart (OTCMKTS:VXRT)

Vaxart, Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering the development of oral recombinant vaccines administered in tablet form. Leveraging a proprietary, room-temperature-stable platform, the company aims to simplify vaccine delivery while eliciting both systemic and mucosal immune responses. Its technology is based on the replication-defective adenovirus vector system, which encodes target antigens designed to protect against a range of infectious diseases without the need for injections or cold-chain logistics.

The company's pipeline includes multiple vaccine candidates in various stages of development.

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The article "Vaxart Q2 Earnings Call Highlights" was originally published by MarketBeat.

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