SiliconBeat

SciClone Pharmaceuticals was told by its largest investor Friday that it intends to nominate four candidates to SciClone’s seven-person board at its next annual meeting.

The request was made by an entity controlled by the Italian pharmaceutical group, Sigma-Tau
Finanziaria, which beneficially owns 21.3 percent of SciClone’s stock.

SciClone’s Chairman, Dean Woodman, said in a filing today that the company’s board would be “evaluating the
nomination notice.” He added that the board was “surprised and disappointed that Sigma-Tau,
a valued SciClone investor and business partner, has chosen to seek control” this way.

According to its filing made Dec. 31, Sigma Tau because it believes that SciClone’s board and management have, “by their actions and inactions, have caused the stockholders” to have
“suffered a significant decrease in the value of their investment, have caused (SciClone) to incur substantial operating losses, have not properly managed the conduct of critical clinical trials, and have allowed the operating expenses of the Issuer to have increased excessively.”

Shares of of the Foster City company fell 64 percent last year, closing the year at 74 cents each. Sigma Tau and its entities spent about $1 million last year buying half a million shares, paying about two dollars each. In the two years before that, they spent $12.5 million buying 3.2 million shares, paying an average of about $3.50 per share.