Ben Shapiro joins board of Israeli pharmaceutical company, Oramed

Ben Shapiro, the founder of the Daily Wire and the host of the Ben Shapiro Show podcast, has joined the board of directors of Oramed Pharmaceuticals and now holds nearly 5% of Oramed's outstanding stock, the company announced. 

According to Oramed, theirs is the first Israeli company board the conservative star has joined and Bloomberg reports he is also now the company's most significant shareholder. 

Oramed is an American-Israeli clinical-stage pharmaceutical company based on technology developed by Jerusalem's Hadassah-University Medical Center. It aims to offer oral delivery solutions for drugs otherwise delivered via injection.

Shapiro's appointment was effective as of May 1. The board determined Shapiro qualifies as an independent director under the listing rules of the Nasdaq Capital Market. Bloomberg estimated that the shares cost Shapiro around $4.7 million based on regulatory filings published late Monday.

"I'm excited to be investing in a company with Oramed's fundamentals and management," Shapiro told ALL ISRAEL NEWS via WhatsApp. "Investors alienated from Israel-based companies thanks to deliberately inaccurate media coverage questioning the country's durability are missing out in a major way. Their loss will be more informed investors' gain."

The company's stock (Nasdaq: ORMP) dropped by 80% at the beginning of the year after it failed to deliver a solution for administering insulin to people with diabetes orally rather than by injection. In addition, the Bloomberg report highlighted that Oramed has a market value of $120.54 million, down from a peak of $1.132 billion in 2021.

Shapiro bought the shares on the open market, he said. According to the filing that Bloomberg quoted, he owns an additional 20,000 restricted stock units that can be converted into more Oramed stock over three years.

Oramed welcomed Shapiro's involvement in the community and said he would add value to the board due to his operational and business background and understanding. 

"We are excited to welcome Ben onto our board. Ben's unique talents and qualifications are expected to bring real value to the current Oramed Board. We are delighted to begin working in earnest with him to build shareholder value," said Oramed Chief Executive Officer Nadav Kidron.

Shapiro holds a law degree from Harvard Law School.