Last close As at 05/08/2026
USD3.15
▲ −0.09 (−2.78%)
Market capitalisation
USD226m
Research: Healthcare
SIGA Technologies has announced the appointment of Dr Jay K Varma as executive vice president and chief medical officer, while he remains a director on the board. Leveraging his prior leadership roles managing COVID-19 and other infectious diseases, Dr Varma will have practical insights that could aid SIGA’s efforts in raising awareness of infectious diseases and could enhance the company’s global procurement and treatment strategies. We believe Dr Varma’s appointment could support efforts for generating new procurement contracts.
Written by
SIGA Technologies |
Notable CMO appointment to position for growth |
Management update |
Pharma and biotech |
8 September 2023 |
Share price performance
Business description
Analysts
SIGA Technologies is a research client of Edison Investment Research Limited |
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SIGA Technologies has announced the appointment of Dr Jay K Varma as executive vice president and chief medical officer, while he remains a director on the board. Leveraging his prior leadership roles managing COVID-19 and other infectious diseases, Dr Varma will have practical insights that could aid SIGA’s efforts in raising awareness of infectious diseases and could enhance the company’s global procurement and treatment strategies. We believe Dr Varma’s appointment could support efforts for generating new procurement contracts.
Year end |
Revenue (US$m) |
EBITDA* |
PBT* |
EPS* |
P/E |
Net cash* |
12/21 |
133.7 |
89.6 |
89.1 |
0.91 |
4.8 |
103.1 |
12/22 |
110.8 |
43.2 |
43.7 |
0.46 |
9.5 |
98.8 |
12/23e |
175.2 |
100.5 |
102.4 |
1.10 |
4.0 |
115.3 |
12/24e |
181.0 |
102.3 |
104.7 |
1.17 |
3.8 |
171.0 |
Note: *EBITDA, PBT and EPS are normalized, excluding amortization of acquired intangibles, exceptional items and share-based payments.
Dr Varma has extensive experience managing infectious diseases and establishing prevention measures. Between April 2020 and May 2021, he was the principal scientific spokesperson for New York City during the COVID-19 pandemic and he played a key role in designing the city’s pandemic response, including diagnostic testing and contact-tracing programs. Prior to joining SIGA’s board of directors in November 2022, Dr Varma was a professor of population health sciences and director of the Cornell Center for Pandemic Prevention and Response at Weill Cornell Medicine. This organization was created in 2022 to focus on the prevention of possible future pandemics by outlining adequate preparedness and developing response protocols. Dr Varma has also held key leadership positions with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Thailand, China, Ethiopia and New York City between 2001 and 2021.
As SIGA’s business operations are focused on infectious diseases, including smallpox, mpox and other orthopox viruses, Dr Varma’s appointment as chief medical officer is likely to shape the company’s growth strategies, as we expect his previous roles allow him to establish a familiarity with key domestic and international stakeholders. Dr Varma will represent SIGA across the company’s engagements with patient advocacy leaders, medical institutions, professional societies and global and regional health agencies, along with other public health and defense organizations.
Dr Varma could assist in the PEP label expansion, which remains an important catalyst for the company with upside potential for US stockpile expansion. While the expanded safety trial under the PEP label expansion program showed positive results in Q223, SIGA is conducting a detailed review of the preliminary data from the immunogenicity trial in combination with the JYNNEOS vaccine. We await management’s H223 update.
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