Alex Philippidis Senior News Editor Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News
Market Funk Deflates Wealth of Biopharma’s Biggest Stakeholders
CEOs and other executives and relatives with the biggest stakes in biopharma companies—what GEN likes to call “molecular millionaires”—mostly saw the value of their holdings slump for much of this year. It’s the result of the market funk that deflated shares from the fourth quarter of 2015 through the first half of this past year, when investors were convinced that a new president would slam the brakes on ever-escalating drug prices.
One reflection of that can be seen on this year’s version of the List GEN has compiled for more than a decade: The number of molecular billionaires dipped from seven on last year's List to six this year. Dropping more dramatically was the total wealth of the top 10 molecular millionaires, which fell nearly 18% from 2015, to a combined $13.144 billion this past year.
Most of the top 10 are unchanged from last year, with a notable exception: among executives no longer included as GEN molecular millionaires is J. Michael Pearson, whose resignation as CEO of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International was announced by the company on March 21. Pearson’s resignation followed a 73% plunge in its share price stemming from disclosures that it used specialty pharmacies to store inventory and record the transactions as sales, touching off a U.S. Department of Justice investigation that resulted in two arrests in November. However, Valeant remains represented on the list through its largest investor.
Also, the #1 and #2 molecular millionaires of last year switched places in 2016, reflecting the resignation of last year’s leader, Phillip Frost, from the board of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries in February 2015
The following is an updated list of 10 executives of publicly traded biopharma drug developers and tools/technology companies, ranked by the total value of their shares of common stock as stated on the companies’ proxy statements or Form 20-F statements.
Each executive is listed with their title and company, the total value of their shares of common stock, the number of shares of common stock (by category where available), and the closing share price of their company’s stock as of the “record date” for determining shareholders entitled to notice of, and to vote at, their company’s annual meeting, with footnotes where applicable.
Not included on the List are executives from companies that do not derive at least a majority of their revenues from drug development or biopharma tools.
#10. Jean-Paul Clozel
CEO, Actelion
Total value of all shares: CHF 886,756,790 ($864,201,140)
6,352,126 total shares as of December 31, 20151
Closing share price on December 31, 2015: CHF 139.60 ($136.05)
#9. John C. Martin
Chairman and CEO, Gilead Sciences
Total value of all shares: $786,487,903
9,014,18 shares of common stock as of February 292
Closing price on February 29: $87.25
#8. Felix Baker, Ph.D.
Director, Alexion Pharmaceuticals
Total value of all shares: $901,126,986
6,702,819 shares of common stock as of March 15
Closing price on March 15: $134.44
#7. William A. Ackman
Director, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International
Total value of all shares: $962,793,675
30,711,122 shares of common stock as of April 113
Closing price on April 11: $31.35
#6. Alice N. Schwartz
Co-founder and Director, Bio-Rad Laboratories
Total value of all shares: $988,995,8314
2,747,223 Class A shares of common stock and 4,598,260 Class B shares of common stock as of February 29
Closing price on February 29: $134.64
#5. P. Roy Vagelos, M.D.
Chairman, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals
Total value of all shares: $1,169,772,538
2,875,335 shares of common stock as of April 14
Closing price on April 14: $406.83
#4. George D. Yancopoulos, M.D., Ph.D.
Founding Scientist; President, Regeneron Laboratories; and CSO, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals
Total value of all shares: $1,224,488,7325
2,967,079 shares of common stock and 42,750 Class A shares as of April 14
Closing price on April 14: $406.83
#3. Julian C. Baker
Director, Incyte6
Total value of all shares: $1,841,896,662
23,775,612 shares of common stock as of April 8
Closing price on April 8: $77.47
#2. Phillip Frost, M.D.
CEO and Chairman, OPKO Health; Investor, ChromaDex
Total value of all shares: $2,077,232,8587
182,788,656 OPKO Health shares as of March 17; 16,052,941 ChromaDex shares as of April 8
Closing prices: OPKO Health shares closed at $10.99 on March 17; ChromaDex shares closed at $4.26 on April 6, the last trading day before April 8
#1. Leonard S. Schleifer, M.D., Ph.D.
President and CEO, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals
Total value of all shares: $2,327,233,993
3,993,844 shares of common stock and 1,726,565 Class A shares as of April 14
Closing price on April 14: $406.83
References
1. Includes 5,418,507 shares of common stock, 745.605 options, 102,368 restricted stock units, and 85,646 performance stock units.
2. Includes 5,056,147 shares subject to stock options that were exercisable within 60 days of February 29
3. Ackman shares voting and disposal power for the shares with Pershing Square Capital Management, L.P., and PS Management GP, LLC
4. Includes $369,886,104.72 in Class A shares of common stock and $619,109,726.40 in Class B shares of common stock that hold preferential voting rights, such as 10 times the voting power of Class As, and election of four directors, versus two for Class As, at the company’s annual meeting
5. Class A stock is convertible on a share-for-share basis into common stock. The Class A stock is entitled to 10 votes per share at the Annual Meeting, and the common stock is entitled to one vote per share.
6. He is managing partner of Baker Brothers Investments.
7. Reflects $2,008,847,329 value of OPKO shares and $68,385,529 value of ChromaDex shares.
