Evaxion AS shares rose 5.4% to $3.32 in premarket trading on Thursday after the biotech company reported second-quarter 2026 financial results and pipeline progress. The Copenhagen-based firm, which develops AI-driven cancer vaccines, posted a net loss of $3.7 million for the quarter, narrowing from $4.2 million in the same period last year.
Cash and cash equivalents totaled DKK 14 million ($1.87 million) at quarter-end, while shareholders' equity stood at DKK 9.5 million. The company reported a cash burn of approximately $8.3 million in the first half of 2026, with management estimating annual burn at DKK 14 million. Evaxion confirmed its cash runway extends through the second half of 2027, providing operational flexibility amid ongoing clinical development.
Pipeline advancements featured prominently in the earnings call. Evaxion's lead candidate EVX-01, a personalized neoantigen cancer vaccine for advanced melanoma, demonstrated an 86% tumor-specific immune response rate in preclinical data presented at the American Association for Cancer Research meeting in April. Phase II trial data from the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress last year showed a 75% overall response rate, including 25% complete responses, with 92% of patients maintaining responses.
The company also highlighted progress across its off-the-shelf vaccine programs. EVX-05, targeting glioblastoma, leverages Evaxion's endogenous retrovirus platform to identify 16 conserved antigens from 1.5 million ERV fragments. EVX-04, an off-the-shelf acute myeloid leukemia vaccine, is on track for a regulatory filing by year-end 2026. The CMV vaccine program EVX-V1 presented data at the International Herpesvirus Workshop in July.
Executives emphasized industry validation of the neoantigen approach. Chief Scientific Officer Birgitte Rønø noted that recent data from competitors Moderna and Merck "broadly validate the personalized neoantigen vaccine concept," while Chief Executive Officer Helen Tayton-Martin highlighted growing interest in the company's ERV platform for its ability to identify conserved antigens from the "dark genome."
Evaxion's shares remain significantly below their 52-week high of $12.15 but have gained roughly 31.7% from the 52-week low of $2.52. Analyst price targets for the stock range from $9 to $16, with the company trading at a substantial discount to these levels.
