Penwest Pharmaceuticals' largest shareholder suggests it become a virtual company

By Lisa Kerner

Charlotte, N.C., Nov. 21 - Penwest Pharmaceuticals Co. shareholder Perceptive Advisors LLC said it believes steps must be taken immediately to extract and maintain the value of the company's Opana ER franchise and questioned Penwest's viability as a going concern.

Perceptive Advisors made its comments in a Nov. 21 letter to Penwest included in a schedule 13D/A filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

According to Perceptive Advisors, Penwest must dramatically scale back its current research and development programs and infrastructure.

"As Penwest's largest shareholder, we urge the board to protect the substantial remaining value of the Opana franchise by returning it back to the shareholders," Perceptive Advisors said in its letter.

"Our recommendation is to cease all development activity and turn Penwest into a virtual company," Perceptive Advisors added.

Penwest, based in Danbury, Conn., develops pharmaceutical products based on proprietary drug-delivery technologies.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.