The information contained on this web page is only a summary of information presented in more detail in the Notice of (1) Pendency and Proposed Partial Settlement, (II) Settlement Fairness Hearing; and (III) Motion for Award of Attorneys’ Fees and Reimbursement of Expenses (the “Notice”).,which you can access by clicking here. Since this website is just a summary, you should review the Notice for additional information.

IF YOU ARE A CLASS MEMBER, YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS WILL BE AFFECTED BY THIS SETTLEMENT WHETHER YOU ACT OR DO NOT ACT. PLEASE READ THE NOTICE CAREFULLY.

IF YOU PURCHASED COMMON STOCK OF VAXART, INC. (TICKER SYMBOL: “VXRT") DURING THE PERIOD FROM JUNE 15, 2020 THROUGH AND INCLUDING AUGUST 19, 2020 (THE “CLASS PERIOD”) AND WERE DAMAGED THEREBY, YOU ARE A CLASS MEMBER.

The Settlement Hearing

The Court will hold a Fairness Hearing on January 12, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. PT, before the Hon. Vincent Chhabria, at the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco Courthouse, Courtroom 4, 17th Floor, 450 Golden Gate Ave, San Francisco, CA 94102.  At this hearing, the Court will consider whether the Settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate.  If there are objections, the Court will consider them, even if you do not ask to speak at the hearing.  The Court will also consider how much to pay to Class Counsel and whether the Plan of Allocation is fair, reasonable, and adequate.  The Court may decide these issues at the hearing or take them under consideration for a later decision. 

Please note that the Court may change the date and time of the Fairness Hearing, or may order that the hearing be held remotely by video and/or telephone conferencing, without another notice being sent to you.  If you want to attend the hearing, you can attend remotely by accessing the following link: https://www.cand.uscourts.gov/vc.

You should check with Class Counsel or this Settlement website beforehand to be sure that the date, time and/or location/method of the hearing have not changed.

What is this case about?

Defendant Vaxart is a vaccine development company that has a “proprietary oral vaccine platform” that is designed to allow vaccines to be delivered by tablet.  In late 2019, Armistice, a hedge fund with an investment focus on the healthcare industry, acquired control of a majority of Vaxart’s outstanding shares, and two of Armistice’s senior officers and/or managing directors, Non-Settling Defendants Stephen J. Boyd (“Boyd”) and Keith Maher (“Maher”), joined Vaxart’s board. 

As COVID-19 began to spread internationally in early 2020, Vaxart announced that it would focus its business on developing a COVID-19 vaccine.  Thereafter, beginning on June 15, 2020, Plaintiffs allege that Vaxart issued various allegedly false and misleading public statements about the Company’s vaccine development efforts.  These statements, among other things, represented (on June 25) that Vaxart had “enable[d] production of a billion or more” doses of its vaccine candidate through a manufacturing partner, and represented (on June 26) that Vaxart’s  COVID-19 vaccine candidate and other had been “selected for the U.S. Government’s Operation Warp Speed [‘OWS’]” – the then-recently announced federal program to identify the most promising COVID-19 vaccine candidates for “fast-track” development and potential federal funding. 

Plaintiffs allege that these statements were false or misleadingly incomplete and made in violation of §10(b) of the Exchange Act, and caused Vaxart’s stock price to be artificially inflated during the Class Period.  For example, Plaintiffs allege that, in fact, Vaxart’s vaccine candidate had not been “selected for” OWS, and that Vaxart’s manufacturing partner lacked viable capabilities to enable bulk manufacturing of its vaccine candidate.  Plaintiffs further allege that Defendants’ allegedly false and misleading statements enabled Armistice to reap roughly $250 million in insider profits by selling over 27.4 million Vaxart shares at inflated prices -- while in possession of materially adverse non-public information and thus in violation of §20A of the Exchange Act -- during the Class Period

The Settling Defendants deny all allegations of wrongdoing and liability, and have maintained that all statements made by or on behalf of Vaxart during the Class Period were accurate or at least reasonably believed by them to be true and/or not materially misleading when made.  In addition, the Settling Defendants deny any liability by Armistice (or by Boyd and Maher in their capacities as officers, directors or agents of Armistice) premised on allegations that Armistice (or Boyd and Maher) possessed material adverse information or that Vaxart’s statements were false or misleading in any way. 

The Settlement Benefits  

In exchange for the Settlement and the release of the Released Claims against the Released Defendant Parties Defendants have agreed to cause a $12,015,000 cash payment to be made, which, along with any interest earned, will be distributed after deduction of Court-awarded attorneys’ fees and litigation expenses, Notice and Administration Expenses, Taxes, and any other fees or expenses approved by the Court (the “Net Settlement Fund”), to Class Members who send in valid and timely Claim Forms.

Further Information

This website and the Notice summarize the Settlement.  For more details regarding the Settlement please reference the Stipulation of Settlement, or other documents filed in the case under the “Court Documents” link on the left.  You may also contact the Claims Administrator or Class Counsel for further information regarding the Settlement: