Caligan Partners is urging Anika Therapeutics to consider strategic alternatives including a full sale, and is preparing to nominate directors to the biotech company's board, according to a letter to the board which was seen by Reuters.
Caligan Partners owns a roughly 4% stake in Anika and is ratcheting up pressure to protest an underperforming stock price and losses at the company's joint preservation segment.
"Anika may be better positioned as a private company or as part of a larger organization," Caligan's managing partner, David Johnson, wrote to the board.
Anika's osteoarthritis knee pain relief injection treatments would be attractive to other companies and could be worth almost $60 per share, Johnson wrote. That would be nearly double Friday's closing stock price of $30.57.
On Tuesday, the company's stock price climbed nearly 6% as the broader market declined.
For the past five months, Caligan has tried to engage with Anika's board to discuss ways to boost the share price, which has dropped 41% over the last five years, the letter said.
But the two sides reached an impasse and Johnson wrote that the directors were unwilling to consider alternatives to unlock more value for shareholders.
"Anika's board and management team are confident that the continued successful execution of our strategy will drive significant shareholder value," the company said in a statement.
A representative for the company was not immediately available for comment.
"We believe that in conjunction with a review of Anika's strategic options, fresh perspectives are needed," the letter said. "Anika needs new directors on its Board."
Johnson did not identify his director candidates or say how many he planned to nominate to Anika's seven-person board, where two members will stand for re-election this year.
Anika is best known for its viscosupplement portfolio, including Monovisc and Orthovisc, marketed by Johnson & Johnson.
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