Roivant Sciences Ltd. (“
Roivant”) today announced
that the members of the Board of Directors of Arbutus Biopharma
Corporation (“
Arbutus”) have resigned and been
replaced. As of the date hereof, Roivant beneficially owns and
controls 38,847,462, or 20.5%, of Arbutus’s common shares.
On February 21, 2025, Roivant’s Chief Executive
Officer, Matthew Gline, met with the Board of Directors of Arbutus
and requested that each of the members of the Board of Directors
resign from their position as a director of Arbutus. As announced
by Arbutus, each member of Arbutus's Board of Directors agreed to
the request and resigned on February 24, 2025. In conjunction with
their resignations, the Board of Directors agreed to (i) reduce the
number of directors from seven to five; and (ii) replace Arbutus’s
Board of Directors with five individuals – Lindsay Androski, Robert
Alan Beardsley, Joseph Bishop, Matthew Gline and Anuj Hasija – to
serve until the 2025 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders or
until their respective successors are duly elected or appointed. In
addition, as disclosed by Arbutus, the Board of Directors has
appointed Ms. Androski to serve as President and Chief Executive
Officer of Arbutus. Ms. Androski, along with Mr. Gline and Mr.
Bishop, are employees of Roivant Sciences, Inc., a wholly-owned
subsidiary of Roivant.
Subject to applicable legal requirements,
Roivant may purchase additional securities of Arbutus from time to
time in open market or private transactions, depending on its
evaluation of Arbutus’s business, prospects and financial
condition, the market for Arbutus’s securities, other developments
concerning Arbutus, the reaction of Arbutus to Roivant's ownership
of Arbutus’s securities, other opportunities available to Roivant,
and general economic, money market and stock market conditions. In
addition, depending upon the factors referred to above, Roivant may
dispose of all or a portion of its securities of Arbutus at any
time. Roivant reserves the right to increase or decrease its
holdings on such terms and at such times as it may decide.
Other than as described in this press release,
Roivant does not currently have any plans or proposals that relate
to, or would result in, any of the matters listed in items (a)
through (k) of item 5 of Form 62-103F1 – Required Disclosure under
Early Warning Requirements, although, depending on the factors
discussed in its Early Warning Report, Roivant may change its
purpose or formulate different plans or proposals with respect
thereto at any time.
This news release is being issued under the
early warning provisions of Canadian securities legislation. A copy
of the Early Warning Report to be filed by Roivant in connection
with the event described above will be available on Arbutus’s
SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca.
A copy of this news release may be obtained on
Arbutus’s SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca. The head office of
Arbutus is 701 Veterans Circle Warminster, Pennsylvania 18974
United States of America. Roivant’s principal executive office is
located at 7th Floor, 50 Broadway London SW1H 0DB United
Kingdom.
About Roivant
Roivant is a biopharmaceutical company that aims
to improve the lives of patients by accelerating the development
and commercialization of medicines that matter. Roivant’s pipeline
includes IMVT-1402 and batoclimab, fully human monoclonal
antibodies targeting FcRn in development across several
IgG-mediated autoimmune indications; brepocitinib, a potent small
molecule inhibitor of TYK2 and JAK1 in development for the
treatment of dermatomyositis, non-infectious uveitis and cutaneous
sarcoidosis; and mosliciguat, an inhaled sGC activator in
development for pulmonary hypertension associated with interstitial
lung disease. We advance our pipeline by creating nimble
subsidiaries or “Vants” to develop and commercialize our medicines
and technologies. Beyond therapeutics, Roivant also incubates
discovery-stage companies and health technology startups
complementary to its biopharmaceutical business. For more
information, www.roivant.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking
statements. Statements in this press release may include statements
that are not historical facts and are considered forward-looking
within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as
amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), which are
usually identified by the use of words such as “anticipate,”
“believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intends,”
“may,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,”
“project,” “should,” “would” and variations of such words or
similar expressions. The words may identify forward-looking
statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a
statement is not forward-looking. We intend these forward-looking
statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for
forward-looking statements contained in Section 27A of the
Securities Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act. Our
forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to,
statements regarding our or our management team’s expectations,
hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future, and
statements that are not historical facts.
Although we believe that our plans, intentions,
expectations and strategies as reflected in or suggested by those
forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance
that the plans, intentions, expectations or strategies will be
attained or achieved. Furthermore, actual results may differ
materially from those described in the forward-looking statements
and will be affected by a number of risks, uncertainties and
assumptions, including, but not limited to, those risks set forth
in the Risk Factors section of our filings with the U.S. Securities
and Exchange Commission. Moreover, we operate in a very competitive
and rapidly changing environment in which new risks emerge from
time to time. These forward-looking statements are based upon the
current expectations and beliefs of our management as of the date
of this press release, and are subject to certain risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those described in the forward-looking statements. Except as
required by applicable law, we assume no obligation to update
publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise.
For further information:
InvestorsKeyur
Parekhkeyur.parekh@roivant.com
MediaStephanie
Leestephanie.lee@roivant.com
1389-8145-4866
Roivant Sciences (NASDAQ:ROIV)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jan 2025 to Feb 2025
Roivant Sciences (NASDAQ:ROIV)
Historical Stock Chart
From Feb 2024 to Feb 2025