DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Two more proxy advisers have come out in support of non-company
nominees to Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. (AMLN) board as part of a
fight between the drug maker and shareholders Eastbourne Capital
Management LLC and Carl Icahn.
Proxy Governance backed all five of the dissidents' nominees -
three from Eastbourne and two from Icahn. Glass Lewis & Co. is
supporting two and one, respectively.
Eastbourne founder and portfolio manager Richard J. Barry said
the two proxy advisers, plus RiskMetrics, independently reached the
same conclusion that Amylin will benefit from new leadership and
that a fresh perspective is needed to address its current issues
and take advantage of opportunities in Amylin's research and
development pipeline.
Glass Lewis said it believes the company has "serious problems,"
noting that Amylin has missed earnings projections for the two
prior years, hasn't provided a 2009 forecast and its stock has
suffered. Shares are down from $50 in October 2007 to Friday's
close of $10.50.
RiskMetrics is also supporting two Eastbourne nominees as well
as one of Icahn's.
Icahn last week said Amylin tried to minimize "the success my
nominees and I achieved for all shareholders at ImClone." Icahn
took control of ImClone Systems Inc. (IMCL) in 2006, then helped
lead the company's sale to Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY) about two
years later for $4.5 billion.
Amylin lead independent director James Wilson and Chairman
Joseph Cook said they believe a sale wouldn't match the value of
the company's efforts to develop the once-weekly injectable
diabetes drug exenatide with Eli Lilly. The drug is a long-acting
version of Byetta, which is injected twice-daily.
-By Tess Stynes, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-2473;
tess.stynes@dowjones.com