Major Novartis shareholder calls for board shake-up after trial setbacks

Artisan Partners, a major Novartis shareholder, is publicly calling for changes to the company’s board after two consecutive drug trial setbacks.

Reuters reports that David Samra of Artisan wants stronger oversight of acquisitions, including better board talent and an acquisitions committee.

Samra also criticized Novartis’ compensation structure, arguing it relies too much on adjusted metrics that can hide writedowns and don’t reflect real economic outcomes.

Reuters says Artisan is the first investor to publicly demand board changes, although other shareholders have privately raised concerns about Novartis’ M&A strategy.

The push comes after Novartis shares suffered a record weekly drop following the trial failures.