Vaxart, Inc. (VXRT) Offers Spring-Loaded Stock Options to Officers and Director
In early 2020 when Vaxart’s shares only traded around 35 cents, the Company began working on the development of a COVID-19 vaccine. As time progressed, the Company continuously touted positive improvement in its COVID-19 vaccine development efforts. Experiencing a positive response from the stock market, Vaxart allegedly offered manipulated, spring-loaded stock options, with an exercise price that is lower than the actual fair market value at the time, to several of its officers and directors. Then, on June 26, 2020, Vaxart announced that its coronavirus vaccine had been selected by the U.S. government for Operation Warp Speed, the federal initiative to quickly develop drugs to combat COVID-19. Consequently, Vaxart’s share price began to soar, and by July 14, 2020, shares of Vaxart were trading as high as $16.97 per share, exponentially increasing the officers and directors’ potential for large profits through their stock options. However, as revealed in a New York Times article on July 25, Vaxart was not selected to receive significant financial support by Warp Speed and its vaccine was only included in a trial on primates that a federal agency organized in conjunction with Operation Warp Speed. On this news, the stock fell as low as $9.16 per share and has yet to recover.