Amylin Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMLN]]) co-founder and original CEO Howard Greene is urging shareholders to vote for Carl Icahn’s or Eastbourne Capital Management’s proposed slate of directors, the Associated Press is reporting today. Greene’s support for dissident nominees adds new twist to a hot proxy fight at the diabetes drug maker.
In a letter to shareholders of the San Diego company, Greene says owners of the company’s stock have suffered with disappointing sales of its products, and argues that the directors responsible for the company’s marketing should be replaced. He adds that big stockholders should be better represented in Amylin board. Greene himself resigned from the board in April.
Amylin is scheduled to hold its annual meeting on May 27. The company says its sales strategy is working. It charges that Icahn and Eastbourne want to sell the company, and that any sale in the near term would undervalue the company. Amylin recently announced layoffs among its sales force, and last Tuesday it introduced a new diabetes drug, a once-a-week medicine called Byetta.