Top bosses at drugs company Novavax pocket £34m windfall as Covid-19 vaccine enters late-stage trials
Novavax has a potential Covid-19 vaccine and it has entered late-stage trials
Top bosses at a drugs company developing a potential Covid-19 vaccine have cashed in £34million worth of shares as the jab enters late-stage trials.
Novavax chief executive Stanley Erck and three of his senior colleagues offloaded the stock in a series of transactions since the start of 2020, capitalising on a near-3,000 per cent rise in the share price.
Erck sold £6.4 million worth of stock in 2020 – nearly four times the value he had sold in the previous five years combined, according to regulatory filings – amounting to 20 per cent of his holdings Chief commercial officer John Trizzino also cashed in about £9.6 million worth of shares, while head of research and development Greg Glenn sold about £9.9 million.
The company’s chief legal officer, John Herrmann, sold £8 million. It comes as Novavax seeks regulatory approval for its jab.
Bosses at Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson, which are behind rival coronavirus vaccines, also sold £7.4 million and £2.9 million worth of stock respectively.
Executives at Moderna, another firm that has had its vaccine recently approved, sold £122 million worth, according to watchdog group Accountable.US. Novavax has separately awarded more than £62 million in stock options to executives, including £30 million to Erck.