Alex Denner

Alex Denner is listed as one of the world’s most influential people in biopharma today, in fact Dr.Denner  has been investing in health-care companies for the past two decades.

In 2013 Mr. Denner founded Sarissa Capital Management LP located in Greenwich Connecticut, an investment fund, to capitalize on the compelling opportunities for positive shareholder activism created by the unique dynamics of the health-care sector. Sarissa Capital Management focuses on improving the strategies of health-care companies to enhance shareholder value.

Alex Denner has extensive experience overseeing the operations and research development of biopharmaceutical companies while evaluating corporate governance matters particularly with respect to broad life sciences. He served as the Managing Director at various Carl C. Icahn affiliated entities, including Icahn Partners and Senior Managing Director at Icahn Capital, Portfolio Manager for healthcare investments at Viking Global Investors,  Managed Healthcare and Biotechnology Mutual Funds at Morgan Stanley Investment Management, Served as the Chairman of The Board at ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, and has been an Independent Director of Biogen Inc since 2009.

Biopharma’s Most Influential People

A biopharmaceutical, also known as a biologic medical product, biological, or biologic, is any pharmaceutical drug product manufactured in, extracted from, or semisynthesized from biological sources.

Alex Denner
Hedge fund operator

Carl Icahn may have received most of the credit, and certainly the lion’s share of the cash, created by his high-profile biotech raiding parties. But Alex Denner has been credited as the power behind the throne, a key player in the turnaround story of several top life sciences companies and a figure now promising to start stealing his own headlines now that he’s jumped Icahn’s ship to helm his own hedge fund.

The two came together at ImClone after both recognized the substantial amount of money that could be made by turning around the troubled company–after CEO Sam Waksal wound up in prison after the notorious insider trading scandal. Denner headed the executive committee that held the wheel, pushing a lead experimental drug–ramucirumab–from Phase I right into late-stage studies. And he helped engineer the $6.5 billion sale to Eli Lilly ($LLY) when everyone could focus on the value of Erbitux and its experimental cancer treatments.

Working directly under Icahn, it was Denner who played the good cop to Icahn’s bad cop at Genzyme, where he made friends and influenced the raider’s enemies. In the end he was the one that got the cheers when Sanofi stepped up with a $20 billion buyout. And while he may never make Jim Mullen’s Christmas card list after playing the troublemaker on Biogen Idec’s ($BIIB) board, who can ignore the buoyant honeymoon period that Biogen has enjoyed since the palace coup that led George Scangos into the top office?

Combining knowledge of the business with a clear connection to the science involved

 Denner has created the template for the modern-day biotech turnaround story.

“Alex actually understands the science–and how to build that into a business,” ex-con and ImClone founder Sam Waksal told Bloomberg. “When a company is broken, he knows what should be done to fix it.”

As an inside player, few can compare to Denner. The big question now is where he plans to play next. And who will follow his game book on their own deals?

Article Written by John Carrol – Fierce Biotech

To read the entire list of the Most Influential People in Biopharama Visit Fierce Biotech

Alex Denner’s Net Worth

The estimated Net Worth of Alexander J Denner is at least $1.21 Billion dollars as of 28 June 2019. Alexander Denner owns over 50,000 units of Biogen stock worth over $1,204,041,080 and over the last 11 years he sold BIIB stock worth over $1,800,788.

In addition, Alex makes $422,643 as Independent Director at Biogen.

Alex Denner
Founder and CIO
Sarissa Capital Management

Alex Denner has been investing in healthcare companies for the past two decades. In 2013, he founded Sarissa Capital Management LP, a registered investment advisor, to capitalize on the compelling opportunities for positive shareholder activism created by the unique dynamics of the healthcare sector. Sarissa focuses on improving the strategies of healthcare companies to enhance shareholder value.

Dr. Denner has led Sarissa’s involvement in some of biopharma’s most successful strategic transactions and activist campaigns, including the sale of Idenix to Merck, the sale of ARIAD Pharmaceuticals to Takeda and the spinoff from Biogen and subsequent sale of Bioverativ to Sanofi. Source: Greenwich Connecticut Economics Forum