Novavax Inc (NASDAQ:NVAX) shares are trading higher Monday after Shah Capital Management reported a 6.66% stake in the company and nominated two directors for the company's board.
What Happened: In a new regulatory filing, Shah Capital, which owns 9.3 million shares of Novavax representing a 6.66% stake in the company, expressed disappointment with the recent performance of Novavax stock and appointed two new directors to the company's board.
The U.S.-based hedge fund said it believes its board nominees will bring the necessary experience to turn around the underperformance of the business and share price.
"Over a period of more than a year, Shah Capital has engaged repeatedly with the board and made several suggestions aimed at addressing self-inflicted problems which have undermined the success and sustainability of the company. However, the board has regrettably been unresponsive," Shah Capital said.
"Following this subsequent inaction by Novavax, which is now trading at a near record low and is one of the most shorted stocks on the Nasdaq, Shah Capital has been forced to make public its concerns and call for leadership change."
Shah Capital has recommended the appointment of Suresh Katta, founder and CEO of biotech firm Saama, and Venkat Peri, CEO of AI healthcare company Quantiva Health.
The hedge fund said it believes Novavax needs to adopt a more dynamic sales and marketing strategy, targeting key Covid segments. Shah Capital also believes Novavax should turn its Matrix-M adjuvant franchise's inactive pipeline candidates into active opportunities through outside capital infusion and focus on efficient and effective spending in order to create operational profitability.
"It is unfathomable that given the sheer size of Novavax's unique market opportunity that the present team was only able to achieve ~200,000 jabs nationwide in Fall 2023 season," Shah Capital said.
"This failure was not due to lack of demand, but instead was a function of marketing missteps, rollout issues and delays that simply would not happen with a sharper more focused team. Novavax can have over 50% covid market share this fall season if they play their cards right."
NVAX Price Action: Novavax shares were up 2.81% at $4.40 at the time of publication, according to Benzinga Pro.
Photo: Marco Verch from Flickr.