US drugmaker Regeneron under fire for ‘excessive’ payouts to executives

Advisory groups questioned whether the upfront payouts were in the best interests of shareholders

The US drugmaker Regeneron, whose Covid treatment was hailed as a cure" by Donald Trump last year, has come under fire from two influential shareholder advisory groups over excessive" payouts made to its top executives ahead of its annual meeting on Friday.

The investor advisory group Glass Lewis said it was highly concerned" at the New York-based firm's decision last year to ditch annual stock options. Instead it will replace them with an upfront five-year grant of performance-restricted stock units worth $130m (92m) for each of its top two executives - Leonard Schleifer, the Regeneron chief executive, and George Yancopoulos, the chief scientific officer.