Artisan Partners, one of Novartis’ 20 largest shareholders, called for a board shake-up to improve acquisition oversight after two trial failures preceded an 11% one-day drop, erasing nearly $30 billion in market value and the stock’s 2026 gains.
David Samra told Reuters that “the party is over” for the dealmaking team, while saying CEO Vas Narasimhan had done “a very good job” since taking over in 2018. The criticism targets board oversight, not the CEO; proposed steps include a dedicated acquisition committee and better deal vetting. Reuters also reported that eight shareholders had raised concerns about Novartis’ M&A strategy.
The setbacks were pelacarsen’s failed Phase III cardiovascular-outcomes trial and del-desiran’s failure to meet its Phase III primary endpoint. Novartis said its guidance was unchanged and its pipeline remained broad, citing positive Phase III remibrutinib results in multiple sclerosis. The roughly $12 billion Avidity acquisition also includes del-brax and del-zota, two other late-stage programs Novartis is advancing for facioscapulohumeral and Duchenne muscular dystrophy, respectively.
