Icahn: Biotechs must merge with Big Pharma

Biogen Idec CEO Jim Mullen (photo) is no wilting violet. When no Big Pharma companies stepped up to the plate to offer him what he thought the company was worth, he spurned them as too timid. And now that Carl Icahn--the bane of corporate CEOs who have drawn his ire--has criticized the biotech for not doing enough to sell the company, Mullen's not backing up an inch. "Monday morning quarterbacking" is how he describes Icahn's complaint. Biogen did serious buyout reviews twice in a month, he says, and no serious offer was to be had. But that's not enough to appease Icahn. "I think a lot of these biotechs have to merge with Big Pharma," he said on CNBC. "This [Biogen Idec] is one of them."

- read the report from the Boston Globe

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