What happened
Novavax (NASDAQ: NVAX) stumbled on Monday, with the stock retreating 4.4%. The main reason for the decline in the development of the coronavirus vaccine appears to be a set of sales of company shares reported to major insiders earlier in the day.
And
Citing regulatory documents, Reuters reported that biotech’s CEO Stanley Erck and “three lieutenants” she did not cite had sold about $ 46 million in Novavax shares since early 2020.
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In 2020, Erck sold $ 8.7 million in shares. According to Reuters, that was more than 20% of its stake in the company. That amount was also almost four times the $ 2.2 million that he had discharged in the previous five years.
Although Novavax is actively developing a coronavirus vaccine – NVX-CoV2373 – it is still in clinical trials. Several rival vaccines have already been authorized for use by major regulators.
Reuters cited an unidentified biotechnology spokeswoman, implying that these sales are not undesirable. She said the company’s leaders “continue to have a substantial personal and professional interest in the success of Novavax, as well as in the financial”.
What now
Corporate insiders sell shares all the time to increase their liquidity. In addition, even with the recent downturns, Novavax’s shares rose almost 2,900% last year, so they are much more expensive than they used to be. Still, it is not really a good look for the company when its vaccine candidate has yet to hit the market.