Vaxart (VXRT) said on Friday it secured a $4.6 million increase in funding under a project agreement supported by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, raising the estimated ceiling for a mid-stage trial of its oral pill COVID-19 vaccine candidate to about $460.7 million.

Vaxart shares recently were more than 18% higher, maintaining their perch near an intra-day high of $0.72 per share. More than 4 million shares have changed hands during Friday trade compared with a daily average of about 1.3 million shares.

Grid Dynamics Holdings (GDYN) will replace Revelyst in the S&P SmallCap 600 index on Jan. 2, S&P Dow Jones Indices said late Thursday.

Shares of the technology consulting firm recently were ahead 9.3%, easing from a nearly 15% mid-morning advance to a new 52-week high of $24.16 a share. Trading volume also was running well ahead of its daily average of 576,000 shares, with investors already exchanging more than 1.7 million Grid Dynamics shares this afternoon.

UnitedHealth Group (UNH) and Amedisys (AMED) extended the deadline for completing their $3.3 billion merger agreement to the earlier of Dec. 31, 2025, or 10 days after a final decision in the Justice Department lawsuit seeking to block the deal, the companies disclosed in a regulatory filing on Friday.

Amedisys shares recently were climbing about 4.6% to $89.93 each, staying within close range of their intra-day high of $90 per share. Trading volume also was stronger than usual, with nearly 1.2 million shares changing hands by midday compared with a daily average of about 545,000 shares.

Price: 0.72, Change: +0.11, Percent Change: +18.42