rosemountbomber
2 days ago
Here is the text:
May 7, 2024, 9:00 AM EDT
GENEVA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Lucien Selce, who owns approximately 2.2% of the outstanding shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: AUPH) (โAuriniaโ or the โCompanyโ), today issued the following letter to Aurinia shareholders:
May 7, 2024
Fellow Shareholders,
As a shareholder of Aurinia since 2020, I have grown increasingly worried about the Companyโs trajectory and am disappointed in the Board of Directorsโ (the โBoardโ) actions. This is why I now feel dutybound to publicly share my concerns and ideas for improving the Company.
In recent years, Aurinia has faced challenges in effectively penetrating the market with its flagship drug, Lupkynis. With CEO and director Peter Greenleaf at the helm, the Board has struggled to implement successful strategies to enhance market penetration and shareholder value. I believe that the composition of the Board and the excessive number of directors sitting on it are holding Aurinia back from achieving its full potential. In my view, the Boardโs size should be reduced to ensure efficiency and cost-effectiveness. All directors with merger and acquisition-related or research experience should be removed. Shareholders have clearly lost faith in the ability of this Board to deliver results.
The Companyโs recent Q1 2024 earnings release and accompanying call did little to appease our concerns. Although we noted the small โbeatโ in revenues and managementโs forecast that Aurinia will be cash flow positive in Q2 2024 instead of H2 2024, we also note that most of the revenue growth stems from pre-existing clients re-enrolling for treatment instead of new clientsโ enrollment.
Key failures of the current Board include:
1. The Board severely mishandled the communication of its dead-end strategic review, which resulted in investors fleeing the stock. The Boardโs communication in this regard seemed designed to destroy Auriniaโs share price. The message was essentially that the Company has no desirability for any industry actor as a potential buyer. The Companyโs February 15, 2024 press release alluded, unnecessarily, to a failed 2018 sale process. There is no rational explanation for this inept communication other than possibly allowing management to grant itself Restricted Stock Units (โRSUsโ) on the cheap.
2. The Board currently has an excessive number of directors who lack relevant skills and much-needed objectivity, compromising its efficiency and effectiveness.
Dr. Robert Foster was appointed to the Board at the urging of MKT Capital to ensure a comprehensive and fair strategic review. Dr. Foster was not meant to stay on after the conclusion of the strategic review. It appears to me that Mr. Greenleafโs motivation for keeping him on the Board is exclusively linked to the cooperation agreement between Aurinia and MKT Capital. Under this agreement, MKT Capital is not allowed to disparage or otherwise publicly dissent with the Companyโs management. By remaining on the Board, Dr. Foster has betrayed MKT Capital โ and is being financially rewarded by Aurinia for doing so.???
The two latest additions to the Board, Jeffrey Bailey and Dr. Karen Smith, who were originally praised by Mr. Greenleaf for their M&A experience and achievements, no longer possess relevant skillsets now that the strategic review has ended.???
Chair Daniel Billenโs close ties with Mr. Greenleaf raise concerns about his impartiality and increase the risk of repetition of past failures.
3. The Board has failed to effectively oversee Mr. Greenleaf and a value-enhancing strategy for Aurinia. Mr. Greenleaf's five-year tenure as CEO has been marked by repeated drug failures. After failing to deliver substantial market penetration for Lupkynis, he purchased Aur200 and Aur300, touting them as transformational for Aurinia. As a result, the Board granted Mr. Greenleaf options and RSUs for building a pipeline, only for him to kill this pipeline after Aur200 and Aur300 received Investigational New Drug applications from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. With a single stroke, the Board transformed Aurinia into a one-trick pony. The Board then shifted the Companyโs focus to potential future pipeline acquisitions while simultaneously announcing a $150 million share buyback.
4. The Board has rewarded Mr. Greenleaf with RSUs despite lackluster performance. I believe it is imperative that Mr. Greenleaf be removed from the Board to ensure boardroom independence, while remaining as CEO. Clear objectives for market penetration must be set, with no more options or RSUs granted unless targets are achieved.
Clearly, Auriniaโs Board is mired in contradictions and conflict of interest. In my view, the Board should immediately take the following actions to improve its independence and enable it to oversee management more effectively for the benefit of all Aurinia shareholders:
Restructure the Board and reduce its size from nine directors to five directors. The ideal Board should comprise an independent Chair, one large shareholder representative (in this respect, it is logical that long-standing, top investor ILJIN SNT Co., Ltd. (โILJINโ) nominate someone), one small shareholder representative and another independent director.???
Link managementโs compensation to fulfilling quantitative revenue goals set by an independent Board. Clear objectives for market penetration must be set, with no more options or RSUs granted unless targets are achieved. The current management โentrenchmentโ package recently issued in the amended annual report should be rejected.???
Develop accretive strategic partnerships. A strategy for accelerating Lupkynisโ commercial development should be developed and implemented. This could potentially take the form of a royalty or co-promotion deal with a middle or major pharmaceutical company.
Aurinia must undergo significant changes to realize its potential. The upcoming Annual General Meeting of Shareholders (the โAnnual Meetingโ) will serve as an opportunity for shareholders to vote for a reduced Board that is committed to effective market penetration strategies and shareholder value enhancement.
We urge the Board to embrace the solutions we have proposed to improve Auriniaโs performance, governance and go-forward strategy. Further, ILJIN โ as a preeminent shareholder owning more than 5% of the Companyโs common stock โ can also request the inclusion of resolutions to address these improvements at the upcoming Annual Meeting.
Sincerely,
Lucien Selce
***
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240507993484/en/
Contacts
Lucien Selce?Lucienselce@gmail.com
Ganz
1 month ago
Yea, Peteโs not the wonder boy we all hoped he would be, I would agree that his negotiation skills are pretty thin, after all the excitement around AUPH , he let the water get cool down. I brought up your family because you post about them often, so you may want to post with a little less emotion and more forethought. I just canโt believe your still here and holding, remember, always believe in a stock or youโll get flushed everytime you hear news, or a tip.Id say now is a great time to double down
Whalatane
2 months ago
What is the evidence it should be SOC ( standard of care ) ?
Prescribing PDF limits it use ...read the PDF .
Its a huge risk for the prescriber to prescribe this drug outside of the parameters ..including the monitoring requirements ,,,set forth in the PDF .
They won't do it .
Chk risk of hyperkalemia ...thats how many CKD patients die ...it sets of wild heart arrhythmias
EG
Hyperkalemia: Risk may be increased with other agents associated
with hyperkalemia; monitor serum potassium levels. (5.6)
โข QT Prolongation: Consider obtaining electrocardiograms and
monitoring electrolytes in patients at high risk. (5.7)
The time consuming steps a prescriber has to comply with . If patient has an adverse event and files a claim ...first thing the lawyers will ask for is ECG records , records of monitoring electrolytes , serum K levels etc ...its a paper work / time consuming drug to prescribe
Kiwi
Whalatane
2 months ago
RMB Lupkynis can be a difficult drug to use . https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2021/213716s000lbl.pdf
It has a boxed warning , not recommended for eGFR < 45 , some time demanding monitoring requirements plus warnings .
Because its an expensive Brand drug the push back from the insurers via prior authorization requisitions ( did your patient try and fail Benylsta ...please document etc or the generics ...etc ) creates huge paper work for Nephrologists and their PA's
The Nephrologist and their PA's are under an intense work load already and to fight thru all the paper work / prior authorization document , monitor the drugs affect etc is more then what most want to deal with unless its almost the last chance for their LN patient to prevent decline into need for dialysis.
My wife knows of only 2 patients on Lupkynis ...largely because of the issues mentioned above .
The Ceo , from an earlier post , seems to be bailing .
I doubt any BP is interested .
JMO
Good luck
Kiwi
rosemountbomber
2 months ago
Moose, your last question is excellent and on point.
Your earlier commentary in the post can be explained by recognizing how our healthcare is strangled by monied interests, like insurers, PBM, etc. The other side that coin is that while Aurinia has enormous margins for Lupy, they apparently are not interested in dropping the price to entice more usage and/or better insurance coverage.
Those huge margins though, should entice BP no?