Carl Icahn did not win as many seats on the Amylin Pharmaceuticals board of directors as he had hoped to, but he scored big on those that he did win.
The San Diego-based biotech has revealed that board chairman Joseph C. Cook was not re-elected to the board last week. Also loosing his seat was lead director James N. Wilson.
Cook and Wilson will be replaced by Alexander J. Denner and Kathleen Behrens, who were backed by dissident shareholders Icahn and Eastbourne Capital Management, respectively. Together, Icahn and Eastbourne own approximately 21 percent of Amylin stock.
Icahn and Eastbourne began waging a proxy battle against the board in January, arguing that the board mismanaged the development of the company’s diabetes drug Byetta, which led to a significant drop in its stock price. And throughout, they were particularly critical of Cook.
Icahn and Eastbourne backed a total of five candidates in the board election, which took place last week. Analysts have said that a management shake-up and perhaps even an attempted sale of the company could be in the offing now that the dissidents control two of the board’s 10 seats.