Carisma Therapeutics, Inc.

Another stakeholder is gearing up for a public face-off with struggling Amarin. Activist investor Sarissa Capital won control over Amarin’s board two years ago on a fierce campaign of stirring up value for shareholders. But after another year of lackluster sales and declining share prices, another activist investor group could be looking to spark some changes at the company.Bradley Radoff and managing director of JEC Capital Partners Michael Torok have collectively obtained 15 million shares of Amarin stock, or around a 3.6% stake in the company. The duo penned a letter to Amarin’s Sarissa-controlled board as a “concerned shareholder group,” calling for an immediate strategic review and a public response. The complaint comes after Sarissa successfully won shareholders’ support to replace seven of Amarin’s board members with its own appointments back in February 2023, bringing an end to a months-long heated back-and-forth. Shortly after winning dominance over the company, the newly-created Sarissa board pledged that it had “begun the hard work of creating value for shareholders.” But two years later, Radoff and Torok argue that that promise had not been delivered on.At the time of the Sarissa takeover, the company’s share price was trading at $2.03. Now, shares are hovering at $0.43, representing a freefall of nearly 80%, the investors pointed out.The shareholder group also highlighted a share buyback plan of up to $50 million that the company announced last year. However, with no mention of the previous plan, Amarin instead went for a ratio change of its American Depositary Shares, or a 1-for-20 reverse split, to maintain its Nasdaq listing.Despite the reasoning, the move “does not inspire confidence, as reverse splits typically have a negative effect on a stock’s future price,” Radoff and Torok noted.The investors urged the company’s board to “immediately announce and run” a strategic review process and emphasized that it should respond publicly, given “the commitments you and Sarissa have made to shareholders.”Sarissa took a stake in Amarin years ago to try and revive the company after a loss of patent protection for its sole product, fish-oil-derived heart pill Vascepa, sent sales plummeting. The activist investor took issue with Vascepa’s slow European launch and “spending mismanagement,” while Amarin at the time argued that despite its issues, Sarissa is “not the answer.” Despite Amarin’s efforts, Sarissa ultimately won control of the company and quickly initiated a restructuring that chopped off about one-third of the company through 120 layoffs. The company is now on its third CEO in just two years after Karim Mikhail left his post following the Sarissa takeover and his replacement Patrick Holt stepped down in June. Amarin’s total net revenue in 2024 added up to $204 million in a 28% decline from the prior year’s $285 million haul. But the company believes that its current cash, investments and other assets are “adequate to support continuing operations for the foreseeable future,” it said in an earnings release. For now, the drugmaker is still looking at opportunities to get Vascepa “into the hands of as many at-risk patients as possible.”Radoff and Torok have stirred the pot at other drugmakers before. In 2023, the investors alleged that they were offered a bribe to support a planned merger at Sesen Bio. More recently, they’ve urged for change at Atea Pharmaceuticals in a similar “concerned shareholders” letter.  

PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 5, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Carisma Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: CARM) ("Carisma" or the "Company"), a leader in macrophage-focused therapeutics, today announced that Steven Kelly, President and Chief Executive Officer, will participate in the Oppenheimer 35th Annual Healthcare Life Sciences Conference on Tuesday, February 11 at 4:40 pm ET. An audio webcast of the event will be available on the Company's Investor Events section of the Investor Relations webpage and will be archived for a limited time following the event. About Carisma Carisma Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical Company pioneering macrophage engineering to develop groundbreaking therapies for fibrosis, cancer, and other diseases. With a strong commitment to patient-centric innovation, Carisma aims to deliver scalable, next-generation solutions that transform treatment paradigms. Carisma is headquartered in Philadelphia, PA. For more information, please visit www.Carismatx.com. Investors: Shveta Dighe investors@carismatx.com Media Contact: Julia Stern (763) 350-5223 jstern@realchemistry.com View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/carisma-therapeutics-to-participate-in-oppenheimer-35th-annual-healthcare-life-sciences-conference-302367990.html SOURCE Carisma Therapeutics Inc.

Plus, news about Innovent Biologics, Relmada Therapeutics, Zevra Therapeutics, Incyte and Bionical Emas: Enanta’s Ph2 win in RSV: The company’s oral N-protein inhibitor achieved a 1.4 log decline in viral load at day five versus placebo in the mid-stage trial in pediatric respiratory syncytial virus. A prespecified analysis of patients randomized within three days of symptom onset showed a decline of 1.2 log compared with placebo. Adverse events with Enanta’s zelicapavir and placebo were similar, and there were no treatment discontinuations or study withdrawals owing to side effects. — Elizabeth Cairns Carisma Therapeutics to lay off 34% of its workforce: The Philadelphia biotech will let go of 23 employees and stop developing its lead asset, a CAR-monocyte program called CT-0525. The biotech had expected to have initial data from its Phase 1 trial of the asset in the first quarter of 2025. It will now focus on an in vivo macrophage engineering platform for potential applications in fibrosis, cancer and autoimmune diseases. — Kyle LaHucik Innovent Biologics details early-stage data for its ADC: It said IBI343, Innovent’s anti-CLDN18.2 antibody-drug conjugate, produced an overall objective response rate of 32.6% in 43 patients with CLDN18.2-positive advanced pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma who had been previously treated. The data, presented at the ESMO Asia Congress, also demonstrated a confirmed ORR of 23.3% and confirmed disease control rate of 81.4%. Among 26 patients, median progression-free survival was 5.3 months; overall survival data are not yet mature. — Elizabeth Cairns Relmada Therapeutics looks for alternatives: The Florida biotech is ending its Phase 3 trials in major depression disorder after saying last week that the rapid-acting NMDA drug was likely to fail . It will also seek strategic alternatives, which could include a sale of assets, reverse merger or other deals. Relmada said it will keep running its Phase 1 in metabolic disease. — Kyle LaHucik Zevra Therapeutics says goodbye to two execs: The biotech parted ways with its chief development officer Christal M.M. Mickle and chief scientific officer Sven Guenther as part of a reprioritization. It also let go an undisclosed number of people in CMC and clinical development. It had 65 full-time workers at the end of 2023. — Kyle LaHucik Incyte’s PD-1 antibody-chemo combo wins in non-small cell lung cancer: The Phase 3 trial met the primary endpoint of overall survival and all secondary endpoints in patients with previously untreated metastatic NSCLC. Patients taking the Zynyz-chemotherapy combination achieved a median overall survival of 18.1 months compared to 13.4 months in the placebo arm. Secondary endpoints included overall response rate and duration of response. Incyte plans to submit a supplemental BLA to the FDA next year. — Katherine Lewin Bionical Emas divests CRO to UK private equity firm: Kester Capital is buying Bionical’s clinical research organization, dubbed EMAS Pharma, which will now operate as an independent business. The sale will allow Bionical to focus on its “core” businesses, including its early access programs and clinical trial supply units. No financial details were disclosed. — Anna Brown Janux Therapeutics raised $402.5 million in its public offering, up from the $300 million it initially planned to raise. — Jaimy Lee