Investor urges board overhaul as Novartis grapples with costly deal setbacks
A top investor, Artisan Partners’ David Samra, is pressuring Novartis to overhaul its board and tighten dealmaking after the costly $12 billion Avidity Biosciences acquisition flop and recent phase-3 setbacks like pelacarsen, which sent shares down more than 10% and wiped about $30 billion from market value. Samra criticized the deal team and called for stronger scrutiny of future acquisitions, though he did not fault CEO Vas Narasimhan. Novartis defended its disciplined capital allocation and pipeline strength, noting some deals (e.g., Chinook’s Vanrafia) have paid off and reaffirmed its sales guidance.
