Biogen Idec asks shareholders to reject Icahn's nominees and elect company's slate

By Lisa Kerner

Charlotte, N.C., May 8 - Biogen Idec Inc. began mailing proxy materials to its shareholders and urged them to vote for the company's four nominees for election to the board at the annual meeting on June 19.

The company's nominees are Cecil B. Pickett, Ph.D., Lynn Schenk, Phillip A. Sharp, Ph.D., and Stelios Papadopoulos, Ph.D.

To bolster its position, Biogen Idec, in a letter to shareholders, emphasized three critical points it wants shareholders to consider:

• The board has a track record of delivering value, which the company said is evidenced by its "consistently strong financial results and stock performance";

• Each of the board's four nominees is "committed to creating significant value for all shareholders and will continue to pursue all options to do so"; and

• Carl Icahn has, according to Biogen Idec, consistently promoted a single-minded agenda to sell the company.

In January, Icahn Partners LP and its affiliates announced they were nominating Alexander J. Denner, Richard C. Mulligan and Anne B. Young for election to Biogen Idec's board.

Denner is managing director of entities controlled by Icahn that manage private investment funds.

Mulligen is Mallinckrodt Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School and director of the Harvard Gene Therapy Initiative.

Young is Julianne Dorn Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School and chief of neurology service at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Biogen Idec cautioned shareholders not to jeopardize the company's continued growth by electing "an Icahn faction committed only to a sale of the company regardless of whether that is in your best interests as a shareholder."

It was previously reported that Icahn Partners had also proposed amending Biogen Idec's bylaws to increase the size of the board to 12. The company currently has a staggered board of 12 directors, with four directorships up for election this year.

Biogen Idec is a Cambridge, Mass.-based pharmaceutical company.

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