ARROWHEAD PHARMACEUTICALS INC (ARWR)
Sector: Health Care
2026 Annual Meeting Analysis
ARROWHEAD PHARMACEUTICALS INC · Meeting: March 19, 2026
Directors FOR
7
Directors AGAINST
0
Say on Pay
FOR
Auditor
FOR
Director Elections
Election of Directors
CEO and board chair since 2007; ARWR's 3-year TSR of +150.2% outperforms the peer group median by +130.8 percentage points, far exceeding the 50pp threshold needed to trigger an against vote, and no other policy flags apply.
Director since 2010 with deep biotech and nanomedicine expertise; ARWR's strong outperformance versus peers clears all TSR thresholds, and Ferrari meets attendance, independence, and audit committee financial literacy requirements.
Joined the board in 2024, which is within the 24-month new-director exemption window, so the TSR trigger does not apply; she holds two other public board seats (Terns Pharmaceuticals and Zenas Biopharma), which is below the four-seat overboarding threshold.
Director since 2020 with extensive pharmaceutical development experience; ARWR's strong peer-relative TSR performance clears all thresholds, attendance requirements are met, and he holds only one outside public board seat.
Director since 2011 with broad biotech and regulatory experience; ARWR's 3-year TSR outperforms the peer median by +130.8pp, well above the 50pp trigger threshold, and no other policy concerns apply.
Director since 2022 with strong commercial and biopharma expertise; tenure is relatively short and ARWR's TSR performance is strongly positive versus peers, so no TSR trigger applies and all other governance criteria are satisfied.
Lead independent director since 2018 with CPA background and CFO experience, qualifying as audit committee financial expert; he holds two outside public board seats (Protagonist Therapeutics and Annexon), below the four-seat overboarding threshold, and ARWR's TSR outperformance clears all policy thresholds.
All seven nominees receive a FOR vote. Arrowhead's 3-year stock return of +150.2% outperforms its compensation peer group median by +130.8 percentage points — far above the 50-point threshold that would trigger an against vote — so no TSR concern applies to any director. No overboarding, attendance, independence, or familial-relationship flags were identified for any nominee.
Say on Pay
✓ FORCEO
Christopher Anzalone
Total Comp
$9,029,861
Prior Support
91%%
The prior year Say on Pay vote received 91% support, well above the 70% threshold that would require a response. CEO total compensation of approximately $9.0 million is consistent with benchmark expectations for a biotech CEO at Arrowhead's market cap, and the pay mix is heavily weighted toward variable, performance-linked compensation — roughly 70% of the CEO's long-term equity consists of performance stock awards tied to specific clinical and regulatory milestones (such as FDA filings and phase 2 trial initiations), which is a high-quality incentive structure. The company's 3-year stock return of +150.2% far outpaces the peer group median of +19.4%, confirming that above-benchmark incentive pay is well-justified by strong shareholder returns.
Auditor Ratification
✓ FORAuditor
KPMG LLP
Tenure
N/A
Audit Fees
$1,310,425
Non-Audit Fees
$0
KPMG charged zero non-audit fees in fiscal 2025, so the non-audit fee ratio is 0% — well below the 50% threshold that would raise independence concerns. Auditor tenure is not disclosed in the proxy, so no tenure trigger can fire; KPMG is a Big 4 firm appropriate for a company of Arrowhead's size and complexity.
Actual Vote Results
Meeting held March 19, 2026
Director Elections
| Nominee | % FOR | Votes For | Withheld / Against | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adeoye Olukoto | 99.0% | 100.8M | 852,631 | ✓ Elected |
| Christopher Anzalon | 98.3% | 100.1M | 1.6M | ✓ Elected |
| Mauro Ferrar | 98.0% | 99.8M | 2.0M | ✓ Elected |
| Victoria Vakiene | 97.5% | 99.3M | 2.5M | ✓ Elected |
| Hongbo L | 91.0% | 92.7M | 9.0M | ✓ Elected |
| William Waddill | 90.1% | 91.9M | 9.9M | ✓ Elected |
| Michael Perr | 69.2% | 70.4M | 31.3M | ✓ Elected |
Broker non-votes: 18.0M
Say on Pay
For 41.6M · Against 60.0M · Abstain 256,341
Auditor Ratification
For 119.1M · Against 371,668 · Abstain 376,706
Other Proposals
Proposal 3
Approval of the Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Amended and Restated 2021 Incentive Plan
Overall Assessment
The 2026 Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals annual meeting presents a clean ballot with no significant governance concerns: all seven director nominees receive a FOR vote on the strength of exceptional peer-relative stock performance (+130.8pp above peer median over three years), KPMG is ratified without issue given zero non-audit fees, and the Say on Pay program earns a FOR vote given 91% prior-year support, strong pay-for-performance alignment, and a CEO compensation structure that is heavily weighted toward milestone-based performance awards. The equity plan amendment (Proposal 3) falls outside the scope of this policy and is noted separately for shareholders to evaluate independently.
Compensation Peer Group
20 companies disclosed in 2026 proxy filing