FILE PHOTO: Alex Denner, Chief Investment Officer and Founding Partner of Sarissa Capital, speaks during the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., May 2, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Blake

(Reuters) - Medicines Company MDCO.O on Thursday said it was cutting the number of directors on its board, a move that could give billionaire investor Alex Denner greater control.

Shares of the company rose 9.8 percent to $33.62 in afternoon trading.

Medicines Company said in a regulatory filing it was restructuring its board by reducing the number of members to 7 from 12. (bit.ly/2F2QgST)

The company said it would nominate Denner, along with Fredric Eshelman, Geno Germano, John Kelly, Clive Meanwell, Paris Panayiotopoulos and Sarah J. Schlesinger to the board.

Germano, Panayiotopoulos and Schlesinger have been affiliated with companies Denner had previously invested in.

Denner, a former healthcare lieutenant to activist investor Carl Icahn, runs hedge fund Sarissa Capital Management LP, which has a 2.64 percent stake in Medicines Company, according to Thomson Reuters data.

He has been part of Medicine’s Company board since February 2016.

The drugmaker is developing a cholesterol treatment and has an approved shot for cardiovascular care in the U.S. market.