Novavax Appoints New CFO Amid Inordinate Delay In COVID-19 Vaccine Authorization

Novavax, Inc. NVAX announced new hires to its executive team even as it is stymied by the delay in getting authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine in the U.S.

What Happened: Novavax announced Monday it has appointed biopharma industry veteran Jim Kelly as executive vice president, CFO and treasurer.

The CFO role was held on an interim basis by John Trizzino, Novavax's chief commercial officer and chief business officer, after the departure of Greg Covino in mid-April. Covino, a former Bristol-Myers Squibb Co BMY executive, served as CFO for a brief period of about five months.

Kelly is a biopharma industry veteran with more than 25 years of experience in commercial- and clinical-stage biopharma companies such as Supernus Pharmaceuticals Inc SUPN, Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. VNDA, MedImmune and Biogen Inc BIIB.

Novavax also announced the appointment of Nasir Egal, as senior vice president of quality assurance.

Related Link: Novavax Vs. Pfizer Vs. Moderna: How COVID-19 Vaccines Stack Up

Why It's Important: Novavax is developing NVX-CoV2373, a protein-based vaccine candidate engineered from the genetic sequence of SARS-CoV-2 using its recombinant nanoparticle technology, adjuvanted with its patented saponin-based Matrix-M.

Even after reporting final results from the late-stage trial of the vaccine candidate, showing 90.4% efficacy, the company is yet to file for emergency use authorization in the U.S. The company expects to apply for EUA with the FDA in the fourth quarter.

Applications for conditional approval are pending before regulatory agencies of India, Indonesia and the Philippines, while the company has initiated filing for a rolling review of applications with the U.K. EU, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

In the last year, following the initiation of the COVID-19 program, Novavax has made several management changes.

At last check Monday, Novavax shares are down 12.04% to $226.30.

Related Link: The Week Ahead In Biotech: Fate Therapeutics Data Readout, RenovoRx IPO In Focus Amid Tapering Earnings News Flow

Photo: Courtesy Novavax