Novavax stockholder Shah Capital issues letter against board re-election

Novavax stockholder Shah Capital, which beneficially owns approximately 7.5% of the outstanding common stock of Novavax, issued a statement to stockholders regarding its intended efforts at the 2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders scheduled for June 13. Highlights of the statement include:”Novavax’s upcoming Annual Meeting presents an opportunity to send a strong and clear message to the company’s board of directors and management – that stockholders cannot afford the status quo and the time for meaningful Board refreshment is now!…we have lost faith that the current directors have the ability or willingness to adapt to market pressures and take the steps we believe are necessary to address its continuing dismal performance. As a result, Shah Capital today filed a preliminary proxy statement to solicit stockholders to vote AGAINST the re-election of Richard H. Douglas, Margaret G. McGlynn, and David Mott, each of the company’s Class II Directors up for election at the Annual Meeting. In our view, the Company’s current management has failed to implement effective strategies to turn the business around despite its rapidly shrinking share price, necessitating material and immediate board refreshment. Novavax remains today one of the most shorted stocks on NASDAQ. The decision to launch this campaign follows our repeated attempts to constructively engage with the Board. We strongly believe in the value of Novavax’s deep IP portfolio and Matrix-M adjuvant platform and that there is a vast and currently untapped market for non-mRNA protein vaccines…The Board regrettably has been unresponsive to our suggestions…Shah Capital further believes that the maintenance and expansion of the Company’s generous compensation programs for its executive management and directors, given the Company’s continuing poor performance and recent massive stockholder dilution is inappropriate…We reiterate our position that Novavax must urgently adopt a more innovative and dynamic sales and marketing strategy. Specifically, that the company should target key Covid segments in its marketing, such as direct-to-patient outreach for individuals aged 60+ and residents of southern states, as well as develop more effective regulatory stakeholder management, particularly with the FDA…”