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Print Edition StoriesMonday, March 22, 2010
Biogen elects two — including Icahn nominee — to board
By Mass High Tech staff
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The board of Cambridge drug developer Biogen Idec Inc. has appointed new members Eric Rowinsky and Stephen Sherwin to the board, in accordance with an agreement with Icahn Partners. Rowinsky was nominated by Icahn Partners, while Sherwin was elected through Biogen Idec’s nomination process.
As part of the deal, Icahn Partners has agreed to support Biogen Idec’s two nominees, incumbant directors Nancy Leaming and Brian Posner, for the remaining two director positions at the company’s 2010 annual meeting. Current directors James Mullen— outgoing CEO —and Bruce Ross— CEO of CancerRx —will not run for reelection at the annual meeting, when their board terms conclude.
Also as part of the agreement, Icahn Partners will withdraw its nominations for three board candidates, one of which is Rowinsky, and its proposal to change the company bylaws to cap the size of the board of directors. The other two board candidates, Thomas Deuel and Richard Young, and Rowinsky were originally nominated in January.
Rowinsky is a current director of Adventrx Pharmaceuticals Inc. and served recently as executive vice president of clinical development and regulatory at ImClone Systems Inc. He has also held the roles of associate professor of oncology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and clinical professor of medicine in the division of medical oncolory at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, Texas.
Rowinsky earned his M.D. from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and hig B.A. from New York University.
Sherwin is the chairman of the Biotechnology Industry Organization and is co-founder and chairman of biotechnology firms Ceregene Inc. and Abgenix Inc. He formerly served as chairman and CEO of Cell Genesys, until it was acquired by BioSante Pharmaceuticals Inc. and, prior to that, he was vice president of clinical research at Genentech.
Sherwin earned his M.D. from Harvard Medical School and his B.A. from Yale University.
Biogen investor Carl Icahn’s firm, Icahn Partners, and its affiliates own 16.1 million Biogen shares, or 6 percent of the company’s outstanding shares. He submitted similar proposals to overhaul Biogen’s board in 2008 and 2009, when Icahn successfully seated two of his allies. He has also made a similar move at Genzyme Corp. last month, noting his intention to nominate four individuals, including himself, for election to the company’s board despite mounting efforts to ward off the move.
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