Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Use of Estimates

The preparation of the consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ materially from those estimates.

Marketable Securities

Marketable securities consist of debt securities with maturities greater than three months from the date of purchase that include commercial paper, government-backed securities, treasury securities, corporate notes and agency securities. Classification of marketable securities between current and non-current is dependent upon the maturity date at the balance sheet date taking into consideration the Company's ability and intent to hold the investment to maturity.

Interest and dividend income are recorded when earned and included in investment income in the consolidated statements of operations. Premiums and discounts, if any, on marketable securities are amortized or accreted to maturity and included in investment income in the consolidated statements of operations. The specific identification method is used in computing realized gains and losses on the sale of the Company's securities.

The Company classifies its marketable securities with readily determinable fair values as “available-for-sale.” Investments in securities that are classified as available-for-sale are measured at fair market value in the consolidated balance sheets, and unrealized gains and losses on marketable securities are reported as a separate component of stockholders' deficit until realized. Marketable securities are evaluated periodically to determine whether a decline in value is “other-than-temporary.” The term “other-than-temporary” is not intended to indicate a permanent decline in value. Rather, it means that the prospects for a near term recovery of value are not necessarily favorable, or that there is a lack of evidence to support fair values equal to, or greater than, the carrying value of the security. Management reviews criteria, such as the magnitude and duration of the decline, as well as the Company's ability to hold the securities, including whether the Company will be required to sell a security prior to recovery of its amortized cost basis, the investment issuer's financial condition and business outlook to predict whether the loss in value is other-than-temporary. Realized gains and losses and declines in value determined to be other-than-temporary are recorded as other income (expense) in the consolidated statements of operations. The cost of securities sold is based on the specific identification method.

Acquisitions

The Company applies the acquisition method of accounting to business combinations in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 805, Business Combinations. The Company’s consolidated financial statements include the operating results of an acquired entity from the date on which it obtains control of the business acquired. The Company recognizes and measures the identifiable assets acquired and liabilities assumed, as of the acquisition date, based on their estimated fair value with the excess purchase consideration, if any, recognized as goodwill. In determining fair value, the Company uses various recognized valuation methods, including the cost and market approaches. The Company initially performs these valuations based on preliminary estimates and assumptions by management or independent valuation specialists under Company supervision, where appropriate, and makes revisions as estimates and assumptions are finalized. The final determination of fair values must be completed no later than the first anniversary of the date of acquisition. The Company expenses acquisition related costs as incurred. See Note 5 for further discussion around the Company’s recent acquisition of Novavax CZ.

Revenue Recognition

The Company performs research and development under government funding, grant, license and clinical development agreements. The revenue primarily consists of funding under U.S. government contracts and other arrangements to advance the clinical development and manufacturing of NVX-CoV2373. The Company’s U.S. government contracts are with the U.S. Department of Defense (the “DoD”) and its participation in Operation Warp Speed (“OWS”) (see Note 12). Other funding arrangements primarily include a grant and forgivable loan funding from CEPI (see Note 12).

At contract inception, the Company analyzes the revenue arrangement to determine the appropriate accounting under U.S. GAAP. Currently, the Company’s revenue arrangements represent customer contracts within the scope of ASC Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606) (“ASC 606”) or are contributions under the scope of ASC Topic 958-605, Not-for-Profit Entities – Revenue Recognition (“ASC 958-605”.) The Company recognizes revenue from arrangements within the scope of ASC 606 following the five-step model: (i) identify the contract(s) with a customer; (ii) identify the performance obligation(s) in the contract; (iii) determine the transaction price; (iv) allocate the transaction price to the performance obligation(s) in the contract; and (v) recognize revenue when (or as) it satisfies a performance obligation. The Company only applies the five-step model to contracts when it is probable that it will collect the consideration it is entitled to in exchange for the goods or services it transfers to its customer. The Company recognizes contribution revenue within the scope of ASC 958-605 when the funder-imposed conditions have been substantially met. Contributions are recorded as deferred revenue until the period in which research and development activities are performed that satisfy the funder-imposed conditions.

Under the U.S. government contracts, the Company is entitled to receive funding of up to $1.66 billion, on a reimbursable-cost or reimbursable-cost-plus-fixed-fee basis, to support certain activities related to the development, manufacture and delivery of NVX-CoV2373 to the U.S. government. The Company analyzed these contracts and determined that they are within the scope of ASC 606. The obligations under each of the contracts are not distinct in the context of the contract as they are highly interdependent or interrelated and, as such, they are accounted for as a single performance obligation. The transaction price under these arrangements is the consideration the Company is expecting to receive and consists of the funded contract amount and the unfunded variable amount to the extent that it is probable that a significant reversal of revenue will not occur. The Company recognizes revenue for these contracts over time as the Company transfers control over the goods and services and satisfies the performance obligation. The Company measures progress toward satisfaction of the performance obligation using an Estimate-at-Completion (“EAC”) process, which is a cost-based input method that reviews and monitors the progress towards the completion of the Company’s performance obligation. Under this process, management considers the costs that have been incurred to-date, as well as projections to completion using various inputs and assumptions, including, but not limited to, progress towards completion, labor costs and productivity, material and subcontractor costs and identified risks. Estimating the total allowable cost at completion of the performance obligation under a contract is subjective and requires the Company to make assumptions about future activity and cost drivers. Changes in these estimates can occur for a variety of reasons and, if significant, may impact the timing of revenue and fee recognition on the Company’s contracts. Allowable contract costs include direct costs incurred

on the contract and indirect costs that are applied in the form of rates to the direct costs. Billings under the contracts are initially based on provisional indirect billing rates, agreed upon between the Company and the U.S. government. These indirect rates are subject to audit on an annual basis. The Company records the impact of changes in the indirect billing rates in the period when such changes are identified. These changes reflect the difference between actual indirect costs incurred compared to the estimated amounts used to determine the provisional indirect billing rates agreed upon with the U.S. government. The Company recognizes revenue on the U.S government contracts based on reimbursable allowable contract costs incurred in the period up to the transaction price. For reimbursable-cost-plus-fixed-fee contracts, the Company recognizes the fixed-fee based on the proportion of reimbursable contract costs incurred to total estimated allowable contract costs expected to be incurred on completion of the underlying performance obligation as determined under the EAC process. The Company recognizes changes in estimates related to the EAC process in the period when such changes are made on a cumulative catch-up basis. The Company includes the transaction price comprising both funded and unfunded portions of customer contracts, in this estimate. As of September 30, 2020, $1.62 billion of the total transaction price of $1.66 billion was not yet satisfied and the Company had a contract asset of $3.8 million and a contract liability of $26.5 million.

The Company’s other funding agreements currently include funding from CEPI of $399.5 million in the form of a grant of $257.0 million (“CEPI Grant Funding”) and one or more forgivable no interest term loans of $142.5 million (“CEPI Forgivable Loan Funding”). Under the Company’s grant funding arrangements, including the CEPI Grant Funding, the Company is primarily entitled to reimbursement for costs that support development related activities of NVX-CoV2373. The CEPI Forgivable Loan Funding is designated for the prepayment of certain manufacturing activities. The Company analyzed these other funding arrangements and determined that they are not within the scope of ASC 606 as they do not provide a direct economic benefit to the grantor. Payments received under the grant funding arrangements are considered conditional contributions under the scope of ASC 958-605 and are recorded as deferred revenue until the period in which such research and development activities are actually performed that satisfy the funder-imposed conditions. Payments received under the CEPI Forgivable Loan Funding agreements are only repayable if the proceeds of sales to one or more third parties of NVX-CoV2373 cover the Company’s costs of manufacturing such vaccine candidate, not including manufacturing costs funded by CEPI. As the financial risk remains with CEPI, the Company determined that the use of the CEPI Forgivable Loan Funding is outside the scope of ASC Topic 470, Debt. The research and development risk is considered substantive, such that it is not yet probable that the development will be successful. Therefore, the Company has concluded that ASC 730 is considered applicable and most appropriate. Given the financial risk associated with the research and development activities lies with CEPI because repayment of any funds provided by CEPI depends solely on the results of the research and development activities having future economic benefit, the Company has accounted for the obligation under the CEPI Forgivable Loan Funding as a contract to perform research and development for others. The Company has determined that payments received under these agreements should be recorded as revenue under ASC 958-605 rather than a reduction to research and development expenses. This is consistent with the Company’s policy of presenting such amounts as revenue. In reaching this determination, the Company considered a number of factors, including whether it is principal under the arrangement, and whether the arrangement is significant to, and part of, the Company’s core operations. The Company will record revenue as it performs the contractual research and development services.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Recently Adopted

In January 2017, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2017-04, Intangibles-Goodwill and Other (Topic 350) (“ASU 2017-04”), which will simplify the goodwill impairment calculation by eliminating Step 2 from the current goodwill impairment test. The new standard does not change how a goodwill impairment is identified. The Company will continue to perform its quantitative goodwill impairment test by comparing the fair value of its reporting unit to its carrying amount, but if the Company is required to recognize a goodwill impairment charge, under the new standard, the amount of the charge will be calculated by subtracting the reporting unit's fair value from its carrying amount. Under the current standard, if the Company is required to recognize a goodwill impairment charge, Step 2 requires it to calculate the implied value of goodwill by assigning the fair value of a reporting unit to all of its assets and liabilities as if that reporting unit had been acquired in a business combination and the amount of the charge is calculated by subtracting the reporting unit's implied fair value of goodwill from the goodwill carrying amount. The standard was effective January 1, 2020 for the Company and will be applied prospectively from the date of adoption. The adoption of ASU 2017-04 did not have a material impact on the Company’s historical financial statements.

Not Yet Adopted

In August 2020, the FASB issued ASU No. 2020-06, Debt—Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20) and Derivatives and Hedging—Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40): Accounting for Convertible Instruments and Contracts in an Entity’s Own Equity (“ASU 2020-06”), which will simplify the accounting for certain financial instruments with characteristics of liabilities and equity, including certain convertible instruments and contracts on an entity’s own equity. Specifically, the new standard will remove the separation models required for convertible debt with cash conversion features and convertible instruments with beneficial conversion features. It will also remove certain settlement conditions that are currently required for equity contracts to qualify for the derivative scope exception and will simplify the diluted earnings per share calculation for convertible instruments. ASU 2020-06 will be effective January 1, 2022 for the Company and may be applied using a full or modified retrospective approach. Early adoption is permitted, but no earlier than January 1, 2021 for the Company. Management is evaluating the impact of adopting ASU 2020-06 and whether it will have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.