Moderna Begins New Search for Chief Financial Officer
Moderna’s new CFO lasts one day in the job as investigation comes to light
Stephanie Vine | | News
Moderna has been in the headlines this past week – but not for vaccines.
Jorge Gomez started his role as Moderna’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) on Monday May 9. On May 11, Moderna announced his departure – effective immediately – after Gomez’s former employer, Dentsply Sirona, announced an ongoing internal investigation into “certain matters” – including financial reporting.
The investigation reportedly relates to “the Company’s use of incentives to sell products to distributors in the third and fourth quarters of 2021 and whether those incentives were appropriately accounted for and the impact of those sales was adequately disclosed.”
Dentsply Sirona terminated CEO Don Casey back in April without revealing the reason. Gomez also resigned in April; at the time, however, it was stated that “Gomez’s decision to resign is not the result of any dispute or disagreement with the Company, the Company’s management or the Board of Directors of the Company on any matter relating to the Company’s operations, policies or practices.”
Gomez has also not been named in the investigation, although Dentsply Sirona says it is investigating both former and current members of senior management. Various news outlets claim that Gomez will receive his annual salary of US$700,000 in a severance package from Moderna (although he will not be eligible for his $500,000 signing bonus). However, it has also been reported that Moderna can claim back the severance if Gomez is fined or found to have engaged in any wrongdoing as part of the Dentsply Sirona investigation.
Moderna’s recently retired CFO, David Meline, has stepped back into the role while Moderna searches for a replacement. Meline has actually retired from Moderna before, but came out of retirement in 2020 to help the company with its COVID-19 work.
Gomez had been with Dentsply Sirona since 2019, where he was also responsible for the company’s sustainability and ESG program. Before Dentsply Sirona, he spent 13 years at Cardinal Health.
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