AUPH - Aurinia Pharmaceuticals gains as two board members resign amid holder vote

2023-05-17 17:21:57 ET

• Aurinia Pharmaceuticals ( NASDAQ: AUPH ) rose 5% in regular trading as two board members, including the chairman, resigned from the board after receiving less than majority support in a shareholder vote on Wednesday.
• Chairman George Milne and board member Joseph Hagan submitted their resignations to the board, according to a statement on Wednesday. The other six incumbent directors were re-elected.
• The two directors as well as CEO Peter Greenleaf had been targeted by investor MKT Capital, which last month said it was opposed to the election of three directors. MKT last month urged Aurinia ( AUPH ) to start a review, writing that a "reconstituted board" should start a process for sale of the entire company.
• "We are pleased that shareholders have sent a clear mandate for change – today’s vote outcome demonstrates others clearly share our concerns with the board’s historic unwillingness to act on shareholder feedback," MKT Capital said in a statement .
• Aurinia ( AUPH ) has been the subject of takeover speculation for a few years since Bloomberg reported in October 2021 about a potential bid from Bristol-Myers Squibb ( BMY ).

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