UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d)
OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): February 16, 2024
NOVAVAX, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in charter)
| Delaware | | 0-26770 | | 22-2816046 |
(State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation) | | (Commission File Number) | | (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
700 Quince Orchard Road
Gaithersburg, Maryland 20878
(Address of Principal Executive Offices, including Zip Code)
(240) 268-2000
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)
(Former name or former address, if changed since last report.)
Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General Instruction A.2. below):
| ¨ | Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425) |
| | |
| ¨ | Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12) |
| | |
| ¨ | Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b)) |
| | |
| ¨ | Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c)) |
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
| Title of each class | | Trading
Symbol(s) | | Name of each exchange on which
registered |
| Common Stock, Par Value $0.01 per share | | NVAX | | The Nasdaq Global Select Market |
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter).
Emerging growth company ¨
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ¨
Item 1.01 Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement.
On February 16, 2024, Novavax, Inc. (the “Company”) and Gavi Alliance (“Gavi”) entered into a Termination and Settlement Agreement (the “Settlement Agreement”) terminating the Advance Purchase Agreement dated May 5, 2021 between the Company and Gavi (the “APA”), which related to the supply of the Company’s vaccine against SARS-COV-2 for the prevention of COVID-19, settling the arbitration proceedings initiated by Gavi against the Company (the “Arbitration”) relating to the APA and releasing both parties of all claims arising from, under or otherwise in connection with the APA.
Pursuant to the Settlement Agreement, the Company is responsible for payment to Gavi of (i) an initial settlement payment of $75 million, which the Company paid on February 20, 2024, and (ii) deferred payments, in equal annual amounts of $80 million payable each calendar year through a deferred payment term ending December 31, 2028. The deferred payments are due in variable quarterly installments beginning in the first quarter of 2024 and total $400 million during the deferred payment term. Such deferred payments may be reduced through Gavi’s use of an annual vaccine credit equivalent to the unpaid balance of such deferred payments each year, which may be applied to qualifying sales of any of the Company’s vaccines for supply to certain low-income and lower-middle income countries. The Company has the right to price the vaccines offered to such low-income and lower-middle income countries in its discretion, and, when utilized by Gavi, the Company will credit the actual price per vaccine paid against the applicable credit. The Company intends to price vaccines offered via the tender process, consistent with its shared goal with Gavi to provide equitable access to those countries.
Also, pursuant to the Settlement Agreement, the Company granted Gavi an additional credit of up to $225 million that may be applied against qualifying sales of any of the Company’s vaccines for supply to such low-income and lower-middle income countries that exceed the $80 million deferred payment amount in any calendar year during the deferred payment term. In addition, the Company and Gavi entered into a security agreement pursuant to which Novavax granted Gavi a security interest in accounts receivable from Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd. (“Serum”) under the License and Supply Agreement dated as of March 10, 2020, by and between Serum and the Company (originally entered by Novavax AB, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company), related to the licensure and supply of the Company’s Matrix-M adjuvant for Serum’s production of a malaria vaccine including the R21 antigen, which will continue for the deferred payment term of the Settlement Agreement.
The foregoing description of the material terms of the Settlement Agreement does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the Settlement Agreement, which will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission as an exhibit to the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023.
Item 1.02 Termination of a Material Definitive Agreement
In connection with the parties’ entry into the Settlement Agreement, the Company and Gavi terminated the APA.
The information set forth in Item 1.01 of this Current Report on Form 8-K is incorporated herein by reference in this Item 1.02.
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
| | Novavax, Inc. |
| | | |
| Date: February 22, 2024 | By: | /s/ Mark J. Casey |
| | Name: | Mark J. Casey |
| | Title: | Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary |
