Forest Laboratories Inc (FRX.N) said it won backing from proxy advisory firm ISS for all 10 of its board nominees in a proxy battle with billionaire investor Carl Icahn. Icahn, who said earlier on Wednesday that he had increased his stake in the company to 9.2 percent, has been seeking to put four representatives on the drugmaker's board. Icahn, however, "has not demonstrated a compelling case that change at the board level is needed," according the Institutional Shareholder Services report. Forest released excerpts of the report in a press statement. "We find little evidence to support the dissidents' contention that the board has made major strategic missteps in planning for the upcoming patent cliffs," the report said, referring to the patent expirations of Forest's big-selling drugs Lexapro for depression and Namenda for Alzheimer's disease.
Forest Laboratories, Inc. (Forest) develops, manufactures and sells branded forms of ethical drug products, most of which requires a physician's prescription. Shares of FRX fell by 2.5% or $-0.87/share to $33.90. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $27.27 and as high as $40.52. On average, 3734850 shares of FRX exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 1337982.
