Activists take Penwest

Activist shareholders now hold five of the eight board seats at Penwest Pharmaceuticals Co. (NASDAQ:PPCO), and will likely use their majority to monetize the drug delivery company's assets and return more cash to shareholders.

At last week's annual shareholder meeting, all three representatives proposed by activist investors Tang Capital and Perceptive Life Sciences were elected to the board. They are Roderick Wong, Saiid Zarrabian and John Lemkey...