Swiss biotech group Actelion won the support of one of its biggest shareholders after Elliott Advisers called on Actelion to consider putting itself up for sale, according to FierceBiotech.

"Actelion has the right strategy in place to ensure sustained value creation," Rudolf Maag, who holds 4.2% of Actelion's outstanding shares, said in a statement.

"The company enjoys a strong, risk-balanced pipeline and invests the shareholders’ money in the right projects ... I am convinced that pursuing a stand-alone strategy where the benefits of these investments can be fully realized will maximize shareholder value over the medium to long term."

Maag is the first shareholder to come out in support of Actelion since largest shareholder Elliott made public letters to the board in which it urged Actelion to consider putting itself up for sale after a spate of product setbacks.

Elliott has called for Actelion's founder and Chief Executive Jean-Paul Clozel, as well as Chairman Robert Cawthorn, to resign from the board.

Elliott, which owns nearly 6% of the $7 billion company, is also using Georgeson, a firm of proxy solicitors, in a bid to gain more support among shareholders.