Alkermes board election receives ISS recommendation for renewal

Alkermes shareholder Sarissa Capital Management made a statement regarding the recent report on Alkermes issued by independent proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services, or ISS: “The company has long suffered under the leadership of Chairman and CEO Richard Pops, and the Board has failed to hold him and other members of management accountable, to the significant detriment of the owners of the company-its shareholders……ISS has validated our position and concluded that Sarissa has “made a compelling case that this is the right moment for incremental change in the boardroom.” ISS stated in its recent report that: “(T)he persistently negative operating margins, even in the face of the company’s commitment to profitability targets, is troubling”; “(T)he implication of this trend (significant increases in SG&A spend relative to sales) is that the company’s leadership lacks either the ability or the desire to reduce spending relative to revenue”; “(T)he board’s ability to oversee management may be constrained by the combined long tenures of the Chairman/CEO (Richard Pops) (in CEO role since 1991) and (Nancy Wysenski) the lead independent director (10-year board tenure)”; and “(T)he company’s leadership has not demonstrated a commitment to lowering costs as a percent of revenues, and there is risk that the spending windfall (from the Janssen settlement) will be squandered…” ISS concluded its analysis by stating that: Sarissa Capital “has made a compelling case that the prolonged inability of the incumbent leadership of Alkermes to transition to profitability warrants change in the boardroom”; and a Sarissa Capital “nominee is needed on the board to add urgency and pressure on management to change”.