Icahn Pursues Board Seats at Biogen Idec

A fight to control one of the leading biotech companies is being waged at Biogen Idec led by Carl Icahn. The activist investor yesterday told reporters [link to Reuters story] that he is seeking three seats on the board of Biogen Idec following a failed attempt by the biotech company to sell itself, a failure Icahn claims was deliberate, according to Reuters.

"We believe that the process was flawed in a number of key respects and that the process was run to placate us and other large shareholders who we believe asked for Biogen to find a buyer," Icahn said in a statement.

Biogen said its board would review his proposed nominations in light of the best interests of all shareholders, and denied sabotaging the sale.

"We ran what can only be described as a comprehensive and thorough sale process that was consistent with industry standards," said Biogen spokeswoman Naomi Aoki.

Biogen, which has a market value of $17.3 billion, makes the multiple sclerosis drugs Avonex and Tysabri and the cancer drug Rituxan. It co-markets Rituxan with Genentech and Tysabri with Elan Corp of Ireland.

"We expect volatility in Biogen's shares, given what looks to be a looming proxy fight with the potential outcome of reopening the auction process that was initiated last fall," said Geoffrey Meacham, an analyst at JP Morgan, said in a research note.

Icahn owns 12.4 million Biogen shares, or about 4.24 percent of the total.