Novavax, Inc.

On May 10, 2021, The Washington Post reported that Novavax’s Emergency Use Authorization (“EUA”) “filing was delayed by manufacturing regulatory issues, until June at the earliest, according to four people who had recently been briefed on the [C]ompany’s plans.” Later that day, Novavax confirmed the claims, revealing that it was not likely to pursue an EUA for NVX-CoV2373 in the U.S. until its third quarter – July 2021 at the earliest.

On this news, Novavax’s stock price fell $15.50 per share, or 8.81%, to close at $160.50 per share on May 10, 2021. The stock price continued to decline $22.32 per share, or 13.91%, to close at $138.18 per share on May 11, 2021, thereby injuring investors.

Then, on August 5, 2021, Novavax released its second quarter financial results and reported that it expected to file for NVX-CoV2373’s EUA in the fourth quarter of 2021, rather than the third quarter. 

On this news, Novavax’s stock price fell $46.31 per share, or 19.61%, to close at $189.89 per share on August 6, 2021.

Then, on October 19, 2021, Politico published an article entitled “‘They rushed the process’: Vaccine maker’s woes hamper global inoculation campaign”. The Politico article stated that Novavax “faces significant hurdles in proving it can manufacture a shot that meets regulators’ quality standards” in reference to NVX-CoV2373. The article also cited anonymous sources, saying that the Company could take until the end of 2022 to resolve its manufacturing issues and attain regulatory authorizations and approvals.

On this news, Novavax’s stock price fell $23.69 per share, or 14.76%, to close at $136.86 per share on October 20, 2021, thereby injuring investors further. 

The complaint filed alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements regarding the Company's business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Novavax overstated its manufacturing capabilities and downplayed manufacturing issues that would impact its approval timeline for NVX-CoV2373; (ii) as a result, Novavax was unlikely to meet its anticipated EUA regulatory timelines for NVX-CoV2373; (iii) accordingly, the Company overstated the regulatory and commercial prospects for NVX-CoV2373; and (iv) as a result, the Company's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.