{"id":728839,"date":"2023-02-06T08:07:24","date_gmt":"2023-02-06T13:07:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\/index.php\/amarin-mails-letter-to-shareholders-highlighting-sarissas-myths-vs-the-facts\/"},"modified":"2023-02-06T08:07:24","modified_gmt":"2023-02-06T13:07:24","slug":"amarin-mails-letter-to-shareholders-highlighting-sarissas-myths-vs-the-facts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\/index.php\/amarin-mails-letter-to-shareholders-highlighting-sarissas-myths-vs-the-facts\/","title":{"rendered":"Amarin Mails Letter to Shareholders Highlighting Sarissa\u2019s Myths vs. The Facts"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nCompany Files Investor Presentation and Urges Shareholders to Vote \u201cAGAINST\u201d Sarissa\u2019s Proposals on the WHITE Proxy Card
\n<\/h2>\n
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DUBLIN, Ireland and BRIDGEWATER. N.J., Feb. 06, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Amarin Corporation plc (NASDAQ: AMRN) (\u201cAmarin\u201d or the \u201cCompany\u201d) today announced that it has mailed a letter to shareholders addressing the false and misleading statements made by Sarissa Capital Management and filed an investor presentation with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission urging shareholders to vote \u201cAGAINST\u201d all proposals on the WHITE proxy card. The General Meeting of Shareholders is scheduled to be held on February 28, 2023, and shareholders of record as of January 23, 2023, will be entitled to vote at the meeting. The letter and investor presentation can be found at www.voteamarin.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The full text of the letter being mailed to shareholders follows:<\/p>\n

Dear Shareholder,<\/p>\n

As we approach the February 28, 2023, General Meeting, you have an important decision to make regarding the future of your investment, and we want to ensure you have the facts. The bottom line is this: We understand your frustration and the stock price is not where we want it to be either.<\/strong> We agree that change was needed at Amarin \u2013 with a NEW Board, NEW management team and NEW strategy, we are working hard to turn Amarin around to drive value for you, our shareholders.<\/p>\n

In contrast, Sarissa is attempting to oust our new Chairman and de facto gain control of the Board with seven underqualified individuals by distorting the facts and in some cases, promoting outright misinformation<\/strong>. While Sarissa\u2019s 110-page presentation certainly taps into shareholder frustration, it conveniently ignores important facts that are critical to Amarin\u2019s fate.<\/p>\n

\n One thing has become clear \u2013 Sarissa is willing to say anything in an attempt to get on the Board.<\/strong> We take our fiduciary duties to all shareholders, large and small, seriously, and we understand the responsibility we have to each of you. Here are Sarissa\u2019s myths vs. the facts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n Sarissa Fiction<\/strong>\n <\/td>\n\n The Facts<\/strong>\n <\/td>\n\n Here\u2019s Why <\/strong>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
SARISSA MYTH #1<\/p>\n

\u2026on Sarissa\u2019s ability to create value in the healthcare space<\/td>\n

\n Despite Sarissa\u2019s suggestions to the contrary, <\/strong>
\n
\n appointing Sarissa nominees has been value destructive for the vast majority of companies that have done so. <\/u>
\n <\/strong>\n <\/td>\n		\n
    \n
  • The median total shareholder return (\u201cTSR\u201d) at companies during the tenure of Sarissa-nominated directors is NEGATIVE 24%<\/strong>.1<\/sup><\/li>\n
  • The companies that Sarissa excluded from its presentation had a median TSR of a staggering NEGATIVE 59%.<\/strong>1<\/sup><\/li>\n
  • In four instances, companies with Sarissa-nominated directors LOST OVER 75% of their value<\/strong>.1<\/sup><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
SARISSA MYTH #2<\/p>\n

\u2026on M&A<\/td>\n

\n The Board is committed to evaluating any real M&A opportunity that would maximize value for Amarin shareholders, including a sale of the Company. <\/strong>\n <\/td>\n\n
    \n
  • \n Not a single one of Sarissa\u2019s nominees for Amarin\u2019s Board were involved in the sale processes mentioned in their communications regarding Amarin.<\/strong>\n <\/li>\n
  • Sarissa and its founder, Alex Denner, are both currently facing litigation asserting serious breaches of fiduciary duty related to one of the sales.<\/li>\n
  • The Amarin Board specifically added a director \u2013 Adam Berger \u2013 who brings extensive M&A experience to be prepared for any M&A opportunity. Berger has been involved in over 90 sales<\/strong> during his career in investment banking.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
SARISSA MYTH #3<\/p>\n

\u2026on comparing Amarin to The Medicines Company<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n Sarissa continues to compare Amarin to The Medicines Company, leading you to believe the same playbook will work here. The reality is the situation could not be more different.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n For Sarissa to claim that it knows how to navigate the complex world of European and global drug pricing based on its involvement in The Medicines Company is deceitful at best.<\/strong> Unlike Amarin, The Medicines Company at the time of its sale: <\/p>\n
    \n
  • Had not<\/strong> initiated large-scale commercialization efforts for its lead product.<\/li>\n
  • Was not<\/strong> facing substantial generic competition in the U.S. for its lead product. The bulk of the value attributed by Novartis\u2019s $9.7 billion acquisition of The Medicines Company was related to this very large U.S. market opportunity.<\/li>\n
  • Had not<\/strong> yet filed its lead product for approval in Europe and was not in the most critical stages of pricing and reimbursement negotiation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
SARISSA MYTH #4<\/p>\n

\u2026on European launch and reimbursement in Germany<\/td>\n

\n Sarissa has no understanding of the German market and very limited experience with international operations.<\/strong> Sarissa conveniently ignores that our stated objective was to launch in up to<\/u> six markets in 2022. Amarin launched in five of the six. We are well on track.<\/td>\n\n
    \n
  • Amarin started 2022 in the price negotiation stage with one <\/strong>European market, and by the end of the year, advanced VAZKEPA\u00ae to be fully available in five markets with another five markets in the pricing negotiation stage. <\/strong><\/li>\n
  • Beyond Europe, we secured six additional international regulatory approvals<\/strong> last year, as well as a seventh key approval just two weeks ago<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
  • In Germany, we pivoted quickly, as the price we were offered was below our cost and would have been a dangerous precedent to set in the midst of other European launches.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
SARISSA MYTH #5<\/p>\n

\u2026on a subscription model<\/td>\n

Sarissa is recycling ideas about subscription models already considered and rejected by the Amarin Board for good cause<\/strong>.<\/td>\n\n
    \n
  • Population health-based models are not a novel idea<\/strong>. They have been evaluated by several companies, including Amarin<\/strong>. They do not benefit all drug profiles, and they have not been executed across all European countries (as Sarissa suggests), only the UK.<\/li>\n
  • \n VAZKEPA has a very different profile than The Medicines Company (again, Sarissa\u2019s apparent only example of success) and its drug Inclisiran. <\/strong>Inclisiran was a late entrant injectable biologic, which was facing challenges in uptake and penetration due to its perceived value, cost and route of administration. VAZKEPA, on the other hand, demonstrated a very positive pharmaco-economic value for the UK government and is an oral therapy, which supports uptake by patients and physicians.<\/li>\n
  • We have already secured a very attractive price in the UK, compared to all other oral treatment options, which gives us comparable if not better access than <\/strong>The Medicines Company\u2019s Inclisiran\/LEQVIO has to the UK population with no additional discounts and no detriment to shareholder value.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
SARISSA MYTH #6<\/p>\n

\u2026on cost savings<\/td>\n

\n Within two months of taking over as CEO, in August 2021, Karim Mikhail took swift and decisive action to reduce the salesforce by 50%. This was <\/strong>
\n
\n three months prior<\/u>
\n <\/strong>
\n to Sarissa\u2019s initial investment. <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n		\n
    \n
  • Amarin further reduced its salesforce in June 2022, resulting in a cumulative reduction of 90%.<\/li>\n
  • \n We have delivered savings of $50 million in the second half of 2022 and are on track to achieve $100 million by mid-2023 as we said we would do.<\/strong>\n <\/li>\n
  • We have made substantial progress on supply chain renegotiations, which reduced supply purchases by $150 million between the first half of 2022 and second half of 2022.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
SARISSA MYTH #7<\/p>\n

\u2026on Per Wold-Olsen and Karim Mikhail\u2019s purported working relationship at Merck<\/td>\n

\n Implying that Chairman Per Wold-Olsen and CEO Karim Mikhail had a close working relationship at Merck is false.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n