July 19 (Reuters) – Activist investor Elliott Investment has built a significant stake in Catalent (CTLT.N) and is pushing for a shake-up in the contract drugmaker’s board, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
Elliott has spoken to potential directorial candidates about joining a slate of nominees to compete in a proxy contest, WSJ saidciting people familiar with the matter.
The push comes at a turbulent time for the contract drugmaker, which said in April slow production at three of its facilities would impact its 2023 fiscal results and that chief financial officer Thomas Castellano had stepped down.
The company named Matti Masanovich as CFO in June.
The exact size of Elliott’s stake in Catalent could not be ascertained, WSJ added. Catalent has a market cap of $8.35 billion.
Catalent manufactures drugs, vaccines and gene therapies at 55 different locations for major pharmaceutical companies, including Moderna Inc’s COVID-19 vaccine (MRNA.O).
It is currently the only contract manufacturer for Novo Nordisk’s (NOVOb.CO) highly popular drug Wegovy, which uses the same ingredient as the diabetes drug Ozempic.
Elliott and Catalent did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
Reporting by Lavanya Ahire and Jyoti Narayan in Bengaluru; Edited by Shailesh Kuber and Dhanya Ann Thoppil
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