My first article in this series detailed the history of Novavax, from its early roots in the 1960s as Damon Corp. to its direct ancestor Immunogenetics/IGI in the 1980s and early 1990s. My plan is to publish new articles in this series whenever new information comes to light.
The basic idea here is that the Rothschilds backed Damon Corp. which sold its animal health division to Immunogenetics/IGI in 1983. IGI then spawned Novavax in 1995 with the involvement of high-level DoD personnel.
One thing I noted in the first article was that I could not find any annual reports from IGI in the period that preceded the Novavax spinoff. Well, after some more digging I was able to find a few SEC filings made by IGI in 1995. It turns out that those filings are listed under the name Teligent, Inc. which is the name that IGI changed to in 2015. Normally, when a company changes its name or is acquired by another company, you can still find the old company name in SEC Edgar. That is not the case here. Searching for IGI yields nothing apart from an unrelated company that is now using the name IGI.
The most important thing I learned from the handful of filings I was able to get my hands on was that Dick Cheney was on the Board of Directors for IGI from 1993 to 1995. So, immediately after he left his job as Secretary of Defense he joined the board of an obscure company making chicken vaccines with annual sales around $30M. Ok.
Here’s the notable IGI board members in 1995:
I assume everyone is familiar with Dick Cheney’s bio. Here’s some info on the the others:
John O. Marsh, Jr [1991-1996] - Secretary of the US Army; Counselor to Gerald Ford; Representative of Virginia; Member of Hazel and Thomas law firm; remained on Novavax board until 2013
Terrence O’Donnell [1993-2008] - Assistant to President Nixon Chief of Staff; Aide to President Ford; partner at Williams & Connolly law firm
Constantine L Hampers [1993-2003] - Co-Founded National Medical Care along with Edward B. Hager; Executive Vice President and Director of W.R. Grace & Co. from 1986-1996
David G Pinosky [1980-1999] - Medical Director, Psychiatric Unit, Palmetto General Hospital; President of Miami Psychiatric Associates; Medical Director of Highland Park General Hospital, Miami
It sure would be nice if someone could ask Dick Cheney to elaborate on his involvement with IGI and the birth of Novavax. But, then again, he’d probably just snarl.
I’ve updated the timeline to include this new information: