Amarin Responds to Inaccurate and Misleading
Statement by Sarissa
— Board Refreshment Process Has Been
Comprehensive, Independent and Transparent; Sarissa’s Candidates
Are Not Qualified Versus Recently Appointed Board Members —
— Amarin Recognizes Shareholder Frustration with
U.S. IP Loss And Has Taken Decisive Action with a New Strategy, New
Team and New Board —
-- Sarissa’s Intervention Will Lead
to Distraction, Disruption and Destruction of Future Value
—
DUBLIN, Ireland and BRIDGEWATER, N.J., Jan. 19, 2023 — Amarin
Corporation plc (NASDAQ:AMRN) (“Amarin” or the “Company”) today
issued the following statement in response to Sarissa Capital
Management LP (“Sarissa”):
Sarissa is Not the Answer: They Have No Plan, No New Ideas and
Their Board Candidates Are Not Qualified
Sarissa is tapping into shareholder frustration but not providing
any answers or plans. How specifically does Sarissa plan to
increase shareholder value?
Contrary to Sarissa’s misrepresentation of the facts, the Amarin
Board of Directors’ refreshment process has been comprehensive,
independent and transparent. The Board engaged a leading
independent search firm in October 2021 which identified each of
the six new independent directors who have joined the Board in the
last year. Throughout this process, the Board considered upwards of
30 candidates against clear selection criteria with critical
skillsets needed to oversee Amarin’s transformation plan including:
international commercial experience, global pharma partnerships and
M&A, pricing and reimbursement, finance and healthcare
investment, clinical development and corporate governance.
Amarin takes its Board refreshment process seriously and will not
circumvent any step at the demand of one shareholder. The Board
interviewed three of Sarissa’s five proposed candidates, all of
whom are Sarissa employees, alongside independent candidates the
Board had identified. In addition, Sarissa demanded that at least
three of their candidates be appointed in a matter of days after
the names were finally shared with the Company. Of note, two of
Sarissa’s original five proposed candidates were junior Sarissa
research analysts with less than five years of work experience.
Throughout our engagement and during the interviews with their
candidates, Sarissa never proposed a single idea to help advance
the business. With no plan and no new ideas, Sarissa is not the
answer. Sarissa is now putting forward seven underqualified
candidates, three of whom are Sarissa employees, who collectively
lack critical understanding of operating a commercial stage company
and have minimal experience with European product launch, pricing
and reimbursement and commercial expertise.