By Lucy Miguel

Pictured: A photograph of an empty board room with laptops at each seat/iStock, ismagilov

Biopharmaceutical company Alkermes announced on Thursday that, at the company’s 2023 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, seven of Alkermes’ director nominees were re-elected. All of Sarissa Capital Management candidates, Alexander Denner, Patrice Bonfiglio, and Sarah Schlesinger, did not receive enough votes for the election.
Denner, Sarissa’s founder nominee, lost just after he stepped down from the board at Biogen, where he has sat since 2009, and from an additional role on Biogen’s board nominating committee. This action was taken to remove possible conflicts of interest with Alkermes. However, his replacement at Biogen was Susan Larger, his romantic partner, a fact not disclosed to shareholders and that became an obstacle to his election.
Sarissa, one of Alkermers’ largest investors since 2019, has criticized how management has been running and the stock price has performance. In December 2021, Sarissa entered into an agreement with Alkermes whereby it held a 5% stake in the company with the right to appoint one director to the company’s board of directors. The firm suggested three candidates and urged shareholders to elect them, arguing that they would help the company accelerate profitability.
But Alkermes followed the recommendation of the independent proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis to vote for Alkermes’ existing board members.
“We believe the recent developments at Biogen regarding Dr. Denner represent, at a minimum, poor optics in the context of this proxy contest, as investors may reasonably question whether the arrangement of having a close personal partner of Dr. Denner on Biogen’s board truly resolves the Company’s stated concerns regarding a potential conflict of interest,” Glass Lewis said in the Alkeremes statement.
After the elections, Nacy J. Wysenski, lead independent director of Alkermes’ Board of Directors, said in a statement this outcome is a reflection of their strong performance and robust corporate governance practices. “Looking ahead, we remain focused on executing on our strategic priorities for the benefit of all shareholders, including our commitment to operational efficiency, disciplined capital allocation and profitability.”
Alkermes’ preliminary results remain subject to certification by the Independent Inspector of Elections. Further details regarding the final results will be shared in a report that Alkermes will file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in due course.
The seven re-elected board members are Emily Perteso Alva, Shane M. Cooke, Richard B. Gaynor, Cato T. Laurencin, Brian P. McKeon, Richard F. Pops, and Christopher I. Wright.