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

Artisan Partners, a top-20 Novartis shareholder, has publicly called for a shake-up of the Swiss drugmaker’s board.

David Samra, an Artisan managing director, said Chairman Giovanni Caforio should strengthen oversight of acquisitions and improve the team responsible for dealmaking.

The criticism follows major clinical setbacks involving drugs acquired through recent deals, which reportedly erased about $30 billion from Novartis’ market value in a record share-price decline.

Samra urged Novartis to create an acquisition committee and recruit directors with stronger M&A expertise.

He also criticized the company’s compensation system for relying too heavily on adjusted measures that can exclude write-downs, arguing that pay should better reflect real economic outcomes.

Samra reportedly continued to support CEO Vas Narasimhan, directing his criticism mainly at board oversight and Novartis’ acquisition strategy. Artisan is described as the first investor to publicly demand board changes, although other shareholders have expressed M&A concerns.