Executives at pharmaceutical firms tasked with developing lifesaving drugs for the coronavirus — and receiving billions of dollars in federal funding — are taking home multimillion-dollar compensation packages even if the vaccine never makes it to market.
Watchdogs say the payouts are unusual in that they deliver compensation prior to actual performance — and raise questions about how taxpayer funds are being used.
Maryland-based Novavax reconfigured its stock options so they would pay out even if vaccine efforts failed. According to SEC filings, its CEO and other top executives can start exercising options worth up to over $100 million if the company’s drug enters phase 2 trials, even if the vaccine never makes it to market. Such equity awards were intended to incentivize the team in a competitive landscape,according to Novavax.
But while the company’s vaccine candidate was included in a primate trial organized by a federal agency in conjunction with Operation Warp Speed, Vaxart wasn’t one of the handful of companies selected to receive significant government support to create hundreds of millions of vaccine doses.Watchdogs say that the payouts for the vaccine companies are unusual in that they deliver compensation prior to actual performance and raise questions about how taxpayer funds are being used.
“These bonuses and stock sales should be investigated and this should be another reminder to Congress that Trump's secretive vaccine program needs a serious dose of accountability and transparency,” Zupnick told NBC News.
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