A top-20 Novartis AG shareholder is publicly pressing the Swiss drugmaker for a board shake-up and stronger oversight of acquisitions after back-to-back clinical trial failures sent the stock to a record fall. David Samra, managing director at Artisan Partners and founding partner of International Value Group, told Reuters he wants Board Chairman Giovanni Caforio to improve board talent and create a dedicated acquisition committee to review potential deals, calling the current dealmaking team "uninspiring at best." Samra cited the 2024 acquisition of German biotech MorphoSys, whose value Novartis wrote down just months later, and the $12 billion Avidity deal, arguing management should face financial penalties if an acquisition's value drops to zero. He also urged the board to reform executive compensation, saying current pay models lean too heavily on adjusted metrics that exclude writedowns. Samra said he does not blame CEO Vas Narasimhan, praising his leadership of the business, and Artisan is the first shareholder to demand board reforms publicly. Novartis shares were up 1.30% at $139.27 in premarket trading Friday.
Novartis AGTop-20 shareholder Artisan Partners publicly demands a board shake-up and acquisition-oversight committee after M&A writedowns and trial failures.
