Biogen tells shareholders to nix Icahn's board bids

Icahn back after Biogen board seats [February 6, 2009]

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Biogen says shareholders liked their board bid better than Icahn’s [June 19, 2008]

Icahn letter takes shots at Biogen’s attempt to sell itself [June 5, 2008]

Biogen Idec Inc. has sent a letter to the Cambridge biotech powerhouse's shareholders, urging them not to vote for a slate of directors endorsed by billionaire investor Carl Icahn next month, according to the company.

In the letter, Biogen says that "... Icahn has consistently promoted a single-minded agenda to sell the company (and) the company believes that electing his slate will impair the company's efforts to deliver shareholder value." Biogen executives sought to sell the company late last year at Icahn's request, but the company ended the sale process in December because it didn't receive serious offers. Last month Icahn filed a lawsuit against Biogen in which he claims that company executives sabotaged the sale process.

With 4,300 workers worldwide, Biogen reported 2007 net income of $638.2 million on revenue of $3.2 billion. The company's products include Avonex and Tysabri for certain cases of multiple sclerosis and Rituxan for a type of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a cancer of the white blood cells.

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