CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) -- Activist investor Carl Icahn has conceded defeat in his campaign to elect a slate of dissident nominees to Biogen Idec Inc.'s board.
One of Icahn's nominees, Alexander Denner, acknowledged at the start of Biogen's annual meeting Thursday in Cambridge that Icahn's three candidates had failed to win shareholder support.
Instead, four of the company's proposed nominees were expected to win election to the 12-person board.
Vote results were not immediately available Thursday.
Icahn's candidates want Biogen Idec to push for a buyout by a big pharmaceutical company.
Icahn owns 4 percent of Biogen Idec's shares, and pushed the company to seek a buyer. The company ended the process two months later after no bids surfaced.
