May 10 Reuters Novavax on Friday said it had struck a licensing deal worth at least 1.2 billion with Sanofi for its COVID19 vaccine in exchange for a stake that valued the U.S. biotech firm at double its current market capitalization.

The Marylandbased drugmaker39;s stock more than doubled in Friday trading to 8.97 following the deal as the company also removed a warning notice from February last year that raised doubts about it being in business. At their peak in 2021, shares traded at about 332.

Sanofi will take a 4.9 stake in the U.S. drugmaker for 70 million. That values Novavax at about 1.4 billion, nearly double its market capitalization of about 628 million as of Thursday, but a far cry from its peak of 20 billion in 2021.

The deal also entitles Novavax to an upfront cash payment of 500 million and future payments contingent on certain milestones, as well as royalties.

Sanofi, one of the world39;s largest vaccine makers, will gain a license to cosell Novavax39;s vaccine in most countries and use the COVID shot along with its own flu vaccines to develop a combination shot.

A company like Sanofi, that has pioneered protein recombinantbased vaccines for decades, validating and actually needing what Novavax has as their next pipeline innovation engine is very powerful, said B. Riley Securities analyst Mayank Mamtani.

For Sanofi, the agreement could help bolster its flu vaccine franchise as companies such as Pfizer and Moderna develop rivals, including…