Along with a new CEO, BioMarin will head into 2024 with three new board directors and a new strategy review committee after settling with activist investor Elliott Investment Management.
The appointment of the three new independent directors will temporarily expand the board’s size to 15 before returning to 11 directors “no later than” the company’s 2024 stockholder meeting, according to a company press release.
Meanwhile, the new strategic and operating review committee will kick off a company review aiming to max out BioMarin’s long-term value, which includes looking at long-term planning and priorities as well as financial and capital allocation priorities. The team will add to the “extensive work” that the board has already done to strengthen performance and profitability, chairman Richard Meier, who will also chair the new committee, said in the release.
The new board members—Barbara Bodem, Athena Countouriotis, M.D., and Mark Enyedy—will add “valuable insight” with their “deep industry experience, leadership expertise, and diverse skills,” Meier added. Bodem’s experience, for one, includes a former position as chief financial officer at Eli Lilly. Enyedy, meanwhile, is the CEO of ImmunoGen, which AbbVie snapped up for $10 billion just last month. The three have no direct ties to Elliott.
“Our focus will be to grow our business through the commercialization of our leading portfolio and pipeline of innovative medicines while driving increased profitability through margin expansion,” noted new CEO Alexander Hardy, who just took the reins after leaving his head role at Genentech. Elliott “supports” Hardy as “the right leader for this chapter of BioMarin’s value creation story,” according to senior portfolio manager Marc Steinberg.
Elliott's stake in BioMarin first came to light in November, when Reuters reported that the investor had spent over $1 billion on its stake in the company. BioMarin’s stock rose about 12% on the day of the announcement.
The two have now entered a corporation agreement and an information-sharing pact.
The news of Elliott's interest came shortly after BioMarin’s long-time chief Jean-Jacques Bienaimé disclosed his retirement, leaving the company with Hardy. Hardy’s tenure began on Dec. 1.
With dwarfism med Voxzogo and hemophilia A gene therapy Roctavian, the company recently turned a page into a new chapter of profitability after several years of operating at a loss. Along the way, BioMarin grew its workforce to more than 3,000 employees.
The company is expected to generate a projected $3 billion in 2024 revenue, Bienaimé said in a recent earnings report.