Vivus reaches agreement with First Manhattan and appoints new board

19 July 2013

A truce has been called between US drugmaker Vivus (Nasdaq: VVUS) and its top investor First Manhattan (FMC) as it reached an agreement over its board.

Vivus, FMC and Sarissa Capital Management, a registered investment adviser and the owner of around 2% percent of Vivus' outstanding shares, announced the decision on July 18 after days of wrangling between the companies ( The Pharma Letter July 17).

Under the terms of the agreement, Charles Casamento, Ernest Mario, Linda Shortliffe, Peter Tam and Leland Wilson have resigned from the board. The board was expanded from 9 to 11 members. Six FMC nominees, Michael Astrue, Samuel Colin, Alexander Denner, Johannes Kastelein, David Norton and Herman Rosenman, are being appointed to the board to fill the resulting vacancies.

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