(Reuters) – Activist investor Caligan Partners has disclosed a 9.7% stake in Anika Therapeutics and nominated two director candidates to the drugmaker’s board.
Caligan nominated David Johnson and William Jellison to the company’s board, according to a regulatory filing late on Wednesday. It previously had roughly a 7% stake, a filing in September last year showed.
In the new filing, Caligan said Anika’s shares “are significantly undervalued and represent a compelling investment opportunity”.
Caligan, which specializes in healthcare investing, had previously urged the company to consider strategic alternatives, including a full sale, as its stock price underperformed and it faced losses at its joint preservation segment.
In April last year, Anika, which makes osteoarthritis knee pain relief injection treatments, reached a settlement with Caligan. It had then appointed former Johnson & Johnson executive Gary Fischetti as a director to its board.
Shares of Anika, which also makes implants that are used in soft tissue repair procedures, closed at $26.03 on Wednesday, versus the peak of $75.72 hit in 2019.
(Reporting by Manas Mishra and Sriparna Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)
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