Dynavax elects all four of its nominees after Deep Track proxy fight

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(Reuters) -Biopharmaceutical company Dynavax Technologies on Wednesday defeated investment firm Deep Track Capital’s effort to unseat directors when investors re-elected all four candidates, the company said.

Deep Track, Dynavax’s second-largest shareholder with a nearly 15% stake, mounted a proxy fight to elect new directors who would prioritize development of the company’s hepatitis B vaccine, Heplisav, instead of pursuing new acquisitions.

The investment firm wanted Dynavax to focus exclusively on growing Heplisav into an asset that a large pharma company would want to own.

Deep Track nominated one of its executives and three people with industry expertise as candidates to replace the four directors who are standing for the election this year.

Dynavax’s stockholders voted to elect Brent MacGregor, Scott Myers, Lauren Silvernail and Elaine Sun to the company’s board.

The company said preliminary results of the vote indicate that stockholders have approved all other proposals recommended by the board, which include new bylaws which ensure all directors stand for election every year.

Emeryville, California-based Dynavax’s shares fell 1% in early trading.

The stock has fallen nearly 20% this year and is currently at a market capitalization of $1.25 billion, according to LSEG data.

(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss, Christy Santhosh and Sriparna Roy; Editing by Maju Samuel)