Hedge fund Farallon Capital Management plans to launch a proxy fight at cancer-drug maker Exelixis Inc. EXEL, and has nominated three directors to that company’s board, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. The move by Farallon — which owns more than 7% of the biotech, according to FactSet — was made after the fund expressed concerns over what it said was Exelixis’ undisciplined research and development spending and insufficient shareholder returns following a years-long drop in the company’s share price, according to the Journal. Talks between the fund and the company over that spending recently broke down, the Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter. Farallon had between Feb. 24 and March 26 to nominate directors, according to the Journal, which said Farallon had been an investor in Exelixis since 2018. Shares of Exelixis were up 1.7% after hours on Tuesday.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.