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.