Anika, Caligan Partners Enter Cooperation Agreement

Anika Therapeutics has entered into a cooperation agreement with Caligan Partners.
 
As part of the agreement, Anika named Gary Fischetti as a Class III director. Fischetti will join two current board members on a newly formed Capital Allocation Committee of the Board, which will make recommendations to the Board and support management’s review of the Anika’s capital allocation. With this appointment, the Anika Board is expanding to eight directors, including six new independent directors appointed since 2018.
 
The board also authorized a $20 million share repurchase program.
 
Cheryl R. Blanchard, Ph.D., president and CEO of Anika, told the press, “We are pleased to reach this agreement with Caligan, which we believe is in the best interests of Anika’s stockholders. We look forward to leveraging Gary’s expertise as we execute on our next chapter of growth in pursuit of accelerated value creation for all stockholders. Anika’s strong balance sheet provides flexibility to continue to invest strategically in our portfolio and product pipeline while also returning capital to stockholders under the terms of the announced program.”
 
Jeff Thompson, Anika’s Chair of the Board, said, “We are pleased to welcome Gary to the Board. He brings decades of relevant experience in the medical device industry, and we are confident we will benefit from his leadership expertise as we advance our strategy and capture the significant opportunities ahead.”
 
“We are pleased to reach a constructive resolution with [Anika] and are confident that these changes will help further our shared goal of long-term shareholder value creation. We believe Gary will be a tremendous addition to Anika’s Board,” said David Johnson, managing partner of Caligan. “We look forward to continuing to engage and support the Company’s Board and leadership team as they drive enhanced stockholder value creation.”