Amarin Corporation wrestled with activist investor Sarissa Capital Management as the latter tried to replace Amarin’s current board of directors with its representatives.
Courtesy of Getty Images
Amarin Corporation wrestled Tuesday with Sarissa Capital Management, the Irish biopharma’s largest shareholder, as the latter tried to replace Amarin’s current board of directors with its representatives.
In a letter calling for a shareholder meeting, Sarissa bared its plans to oust Amarin chairman Per Wold-Olsen and add seven new directors to the company’s board. Should Amarin try to sidestep this process by filling vacancies on the board or taking any action that would otherwise infringe on Sarissa’s shareholder rights, the investor is prepared to “initiate immediate legal action” to hold the directors “personally accountable.”
“Sarissa is astounded by Amarin’s blatant disregard for shareholders,” the letter read. During the previous meeting, Amarin allegedly rejected any efforts by shareholders to elect representatives onto the company’s board and instead favored their own candidates.
“We believe that they do not understand a board’s mission and duties to shareholders, the owners of the company,” the letter continued.
Sarissa employs an activist investing strategy, which seeks to influence how a company operates through an outsized equity stake. Activist investors use a combination of public pressure and private lobbying to get what they want.
In a response letter to Sarissa, published Wednesday, Amarin’s management stated that the company has “refreshed approximately 70% of its Board of Directors (“Board”) over the last year, including the appointment of six highly qualified independent directors and the transition of four longer tenured directors.”
This program is intended to “address the changing needs of the company as it executes its new growth strategy,” according to the company’s press release.
Amarin had a difficult 2022. In June, the company initiated a global financial and organizational restructuring program in an attempt to cut operational costs by $100 million amid the country’s economic headwinds. Along with this effort, Amarin made a strategic pivot to Europe and slashed its U.S. workforce by 90%.
More recently, Amarin has had some good news to share with stakeholders. At its J.P. Morgan Healthcare conference presentation this week, the drugmaker announced that its U.S. business for Vascepa is stabilizing and 2022 Q4 cash flow ought to be positive to the tune of $4 million.
