Alex Denner
Founder & Chief Investment Officer
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.
Prior to founding Sarissa, Dr. Denner was the healthcare portfolio manager of Icahn Capital. At Icahn Capital, Dr. Denner developed Carl Icahn’s activist strategy in healthcare and was responsible for some of Mr. Icahn’s most successful investments, including ImClone Systems, Genzyme, Amylin, MedImmune, Biogen and Forest Laboratories. In the decade prior to joining Icahn Capital, Alex was a healthcare portfolio manager first at Morgan Stanley Investment Management and then at Viking Global Investors.
Dr. Denner currently serves as a director of Biogen and a director and Chairman of The Medicines Company. Dr. Denner previously served as a director and Chairman of ARIAD Pharmaceuticals and director of Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Bioverativ and ImClone Systems, where he was also Chairman of the Executive Committee. Dr. Denner received his S.B. degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his M.S., M.Phil. and Ph.D. degrees from Yale University.