After Amarin’s former CEO Karim Mikhail recently resigned from the company, the drugmaker has tapped company veteran Aaron Berg to steer the ship—for now.
On an interim basis, Berg is moving up from his position as executive vice president and president of Amarin's U.S. business, a post he’s held since August 2021. Before that, he served as the company's chief commercial officer for five years.
Berg started at Amarin in 2012 as VP of marketing and managed markets after holding positions at Kos Pharmaceuticals, Essentialis and GSK, among other companies.
The appointment is effective immediately, as is the board membership of Amarin's new independent director Oliver O’Connor. O’Connor currently heads the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association.
The board is “working quickly” to identify a permanent CEO, board chairman Odysseas Kostas, M.D., said in a company statement. “We are excited to have Aaron step up to lead Amarin at this important time.”
Late last month, Mikhail resigned after the company's bitter fight with activist investor group Sarissa Capital, which culminated in Sarissa gaining company control after the resignation of seven board members. The public spat began when Sarissa became Amarin’s top shareholder and fought for board representation.
The company has been struggling since its sole commercial product, fish-oil-derived heart pill Vascepa, lost U.S. patent protection and came under siege from generic competitors. Amarin went all the way to the Supreme Court in an unsuccessful bid to defend its drug.
As Vascepa sales tanked last summer, the drugmaker turned to restructuring. Amarin ended 2022 with full year sales of $366 million, a 37% decrease from 2021.