Novavax said Monday its first-quarter loss grew it ramped up research and development spending for flu vaccines.
Operating expenses rose 62 percent to $11.6 million, largely because the company doubled research spending. Novavax is developing vaccines for swine flu and for other flu strains and respiratory diseases. Its products are several years away from reaching the market, and results edged out most expectations on Wall Street.
Novavax lost $11.4 million, or 11 cents per share, compared with a loss of $8.3 million, or 12 cents per share in the year-ago quarter. The company had about 31.3 million additional shares of common stock during the most recent quarter.
Revenue, however, rose to $110,000 from $21,000.
Shares of Novavax Inc. jumped 8 percent to $2.54 in premarket trading.