Biovail urges shareholders to elect its nominees, reject former CEO Melnyk's slate, June 25

By Lisa Kerner

Charlotte, N.C., June 6 - Biovail Corp. sent another letter to its shareholders urging them to reject former chairman and chief executive officer Eugene Melnyk's director nominees for election at the company's annual meeting on June 25.

In the lengthy June 5 letter, Biovail chairman Dr. Douglas J.P. Squires and CEO William M. Wells said that Melnyk is the problem the company is trying to solve.

The strategic and operating challenges Biovail now faces are the direct result of Melnyk's actions, or inaction, when he led the Toronto pharmaceutical company, according to the letter.

On June 2, Melnyk and EM Holdings BV filed a dissident proxy circular in connection with their solicitation of proxies in support of their nominees: Bruce D. Brydon, Douglas N. Deeth, Joseph J. Krivulka, Vince M. Mazza, William J. Menear, Robert A. Podruzny, Liza A. Harridyal-Sodha, Mark L. Thompson, Dr. Lorne D. Tyrrell and Laurence W. Zeifman.

Squires and Wells claim Melnyk's circular makes "a number of unfounded and misguided attacks" on Biovail, its management and its strategy.

"Nostalgia is not a strategy. Selective memory is not management," Squires and Wells said of Melnyk's lack of a "realistic strategy for enhancing shareholder value."

The letter states that Biovail's nominees bring more expertise, more independence and better corporate governance experience to the board than the Melnyk nominees.

Biovail's nominees for election to the board, in addition to Squires and Wells, are:

• Lloyd Segal, CEO and director of Thallion Pharmaceuticals;

• Mark Parrish, former senior executive of Cardinal Health Inc.;

• Robert Power, former executive vice president of Wyeth Pharmaceuticals;

• Serge Gouin, chairman, Quebecor Media;

• Dr. Laurence Paul, Biovail director since 2002;

• David Laidley, former chairman of Deloitte & Touche;

• Spencer Lanthier, former chairman of KPMG Canada; and

• Michael Van Every, retired senior partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Biovail director.

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