PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 14, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kehoe Law Firm, P.C. is investigating potential securities claims on behalf of investors of Vaxart, Inc. (“Vaxart” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: VXRT) to determine whether the Company engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.
Vaxart investors who purchased, or otherwise acquired, the Company’s common stock between June 25, 2020 and July 25, 2020, inclusive (the “Class Period”), and suffered losses greater than $50,000 are encouraged to complete Kehoe Law Firm’s Securities Class Action Questionnaire or contact Kevin Cauley, Director, Business Development, (215) 792-6676, Ext. 802, securities@kehoelawfirm.com, to discuss the securities investigation or potential legal claims.
According to a class action complaint filed on August 24, 2020 in United States District Court, during the Class Period, the Vaxart defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements, because they misrepresented and failed to disclose material information pertaining to the Company’s business and operations, which were known to Defendants or recklessly disregarded by them. According to the class action complaint, Vaxart exaggerated the prospects of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, including its purported role or involvement in Operation Warp Speed (“OWS”). Contrary to Defendants’ statements, Vaxart’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate had no reasonable prospect for mass production and marketing and was not among the companies selected to receive significant financial support from OWS to produce hundreds of millions of vaccine doses. Instead, Vaxart’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate was merely selected to participate in preliminary U.S. government studies to determine potential areas for possible OWS partnership and support. At the time of making the statements, according to the complaint, those studies were ongoing, and no determination had been made.
On June 26, 2020, Vaxart announced that “. . . its oral COVID-19 vaccine has been selected to participate in a non-human primate (NHP) challenge study, organized and funded by Operation Warp Speed, a new national program aiming to provide substantial quantities of safe, effective vaccine for Americans by January 2021,” as well as that Vaxart is “. . . one of the few companies selected by Operation Warp Speed, and that ours is the only oral vaccine being evaluated.”
On July 25, 2020, a New York Times article, "Corporate Insiders Pocket $1 Billion in Rush for Coronavirus Vaccine," described how Vaxart's "[c]ompany insiders, who weeks earlier had received stock options worth a few million dollars, saw the value of those awards increase sixfold. And a hedge fund that partly controlled the company walked away with more than $200 million in instant profits.”
According to TheNew York Times, “[s]ome officials at the Department of Health and Human Services have grown concerned about whether companies including Vaxart are trying to inflate their stock prices by exaggerating their roles in Warp Speed, a senior Trump administration official said. The department has relayed those concerns to the Securities and Exchange Commission, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.”
On this news, Vaxart’s share price dropped significantly on July 27, 2020, closing at $11.16 per share.
Kehoe Law Firm, P.C., with offices in New York and Philadelphia, is a multidisciplinary, plaintiff–side law firm dedicated to protecting investors from securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duties, and corporate misconduct. Combined, the partners at Kehoe Law Firm have served as Lead Counsel or Co-Lead Counsel in cases that have recovered more than $10 billion on behalf of institutional and individual investors.
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