Forest Laboratories Announces Director Nominees for Election at 2011 Annual Meeting
July 18 2011 - 8:00AM
Business Wire
Forest Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE: FRX) today announced that it
will nominate a slate of ten candidates for election to the
Company’s Board of Directors at the 2011 Annual Meeting of
Shareholders on August 18, 2011.
In addition to seven incumbent director candidates, the slate
includes three new independent nominees: Christopher J. Coughlin,
former Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Tyco
International; Gerald M. Lieberman, former President and Chief
Operating Officer of AllianceBernstein; and Brenton L. Saunders,
Chief Executive Officer of Bausch + Lomb.
“We are nominating an exceptionally strong slate of candidates
who will work on behalf of all investors and ensure board level
focus on maximizing the potential of Forest’s robust pipeline,
which is one of the most promising in the industry,” said Kenneth
E. Goodman, Presiding Independent Director of the Forest Board. “In
addition to our seven highly qualified incumbent directors, I am
pleased that we have three outstanding new candidates who will
bring fresh eyes and valuable experience to the Forest Board. Our
new candidates are extremely well regarded, accomplished
professionals and financial experts with diversified skills, broad
experience in domestic and international business and proven track
records. We believe our entire slate is extremely well qualified to
lead the Company through its future growth and development.”
Howard Solomon, the Company’s Chairman, Chief Executive Officer
and President, added: “On behalf of the Board and the entire
Company, I want to express our deepest appreciation and respect for
the many contributions over the years of Directors William Candee
and George Cohan, who will not stand for re-election at this year’s
meeting.”
Mr. Solomon continued: “Forest is continuing to perform well,
having grown net revenues by 8%, operating income by 41% and net
income by 53% in fiscal 2011. The Company has also returned $4.4
billion in capital to shareholders through repurchases since 2005,
including a $500 million share buyback program we announced in June
2011. And we are very well positioned to continue to perform, with
three new product launches in 2011 and a deep Phase III pipeline
which includes four additional products that are expected to mature
in 2012 and 2013. The Forest Board is focused on continuing to
build sustainable momentum and value for shareholders, and we
believe that the Board nominees we are announcing today will help
Forest to deliver on that goal.”
Along with the Company’s seven incumbent directors, Forest’s
three new independent nominees provide a powerful combination of
financial acumen, operational skills, investor perspective and
corporate governance experience at an important juncture for
Forest. Each of the three new nominees has been judged to meet the
independence criteria in the Company’s Corporate Governance
Guidelines and under the listing standards of the New York Stock
Exchange.
Forest’s three new independent nominees are:
- Christopher J. Coughlin – Mr.
Coughlin, 59, most recently served as Executive Vice President and
Chief Financial Officer of Tyco International from 2005 to 2010 and
remains an advisor to Tyco. During his tenure, he played a central
role in the separation of Tyco into three independent, public
companies and provided financial leadership surrounding major
transactions, including the $2 billion acquisition of Broadview
Security, among many other responsibilities and
accomplishments.Prior to joining Tyco, he worked as the Chief
Operating Officer of the Interpublic Group of Companies from June
2003 to December 2004, as Chief Financial Officer from August 2003
to June 2004 and as a director from July 2003 to July 2004.
Previously, Mr. Coughlin was Executive Vice President and Chief
Financial Officer of Pharmacia Corporation from 1998 until its
acquisition by Pfizer in 2003. Prior to that, he was Executive Vice
President of Nabisco Holdings and President of Nabisco
International. From 1981 to 1996 he held various positions,
including Chief Financial Officer, at Sterling Drug.Mr. Coughlin is
currently serving as the lead independent director on the board of
Dun & Bradstreet, where he is a member of the Audit Committee
and the Compensation and Benefits Committee. He also serves on the
board of Covidien plc, where he is Chair of the Compliance
Committee. Mr. Coughlin has a B.S. in accounting from Boston
College.A veteran of service and leadership on public company
boards, Mr. Coughlin’s wide array of senior management positions in
global companies, pharmaceutical background, finance experience and
compliance and governance expertise will further equip the Board in
making strategic decisions for the long-term growth of the
Company.
- Gerald M. Lieberman – Mr.
Lieberman, 64, most recently served as the President and Chief
Operating Officer of AllianceBernstein from 2004 to 2009, where he
oversaw several critical functions for the Company, including
finance, global risk management, technology, operations, human
resources, and investor and public relations. In addition, he was
instrumental in developing the Company’s global integrated platform
and enhancing its corporate governance and financial
transparency.Prior to joining Alliance Bernstein in 1998, Mr.
Lieberman held a number of senior positions at Fidelity Investments
from 1993 to 1998, including Chief Financial Officer and Chief of
Administration. He was a member of Fidelity’s operating committee,
reporting directly to the Chairman. Before joining Fidelity, Mr.
Lieberman spent 14 years with Citicorp, where he served as Senior
Human Resources Officer and a member of the policy committee,
reporting to the Company’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. At
Citicorp, he also held several other senior leadership positions,
including Chief Executive Officer of Citibank Mexico and Division
Head of Latin America.Mr. Lieberman is currently serving as a
director at Computershare. He is also a trustee of the University
of Connecticut Foundation and was a practicing C.P.A. with Arthur
Anderson. He received a B.S. from the University of Connecticut and
attended New York University’s Graduate School of Business
Administration.Mr. Lieberman’s senior roles at AllianceBernstein
and Fidelity Investments, premier investment and asset management
firms, and his breadth and depth of experiences, including his
finance and accounting expertise and career-long focus on risk
management, enable him to provide important and valuable
perspectives to the Board.
- Brenton L. Saunders – Mr.
Saunders, 41, has been the Chief Executive Officer of Bausch + Lomb
and a board director since March 2010. Previously, Mr. Saunders
served as a senior executive with Schering-Plough from 2003 to
2010, most recently as President of Global Consumer Health Care. He
also served as Head of Integration for both Schering-Plough’s
merger with Merck & Co. and for its $16 billion acquisition of
Organon BioSciences.Before joining Schering-Plough, Mr. Saunders
was a Partner and Head of the Compliance Business Advisory Group at
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP from 2000 to 2003. Prior to that, he was
Chief Risk Officer at Coventry Health Care between 1998 and 1999
and a co-founder of the Health Care Compliance Association in 1995.
Mr. Saunders began his career as Chief Compliance Officer for the
Thomas Jefferson University Health System.In addition to the Bausch
+ Lomb board, he serves on the boards of ElectroCore LLC and the
Overlook Hospital Foundation. He is also the former Chairman of the
New York chapter of the American Heart Association. Mr. Saunders
was also recently named to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s
Upstate New York Regional Advisory Board. He received a B.A. from
the University of Pittsburgh, an M.B.A. from Temple University
School of Business, and a J.D. from Temple University School of
Law.Given Mr. Saunders’ leadership experience as CEO of a global,
branded healthcare company and deep pharmaceutical experiences, he
will be an invaluable addition to the Board. In addition to his
other attributes, his 15 years of senior compliance experience and
broad regulatory expertise at a number of different companies,
including Bausch + Lomb and Schering-Plough, will prove
particularly valuable.
The Board has also nominated seven incumbent directors to serve
an additional one-year term on the Company’s Board, which will be
expanded from nine to 10 seats as of the 2011 Annual Meeting.
Individually and collectively, the incumbent nominees bring a
compelling combination of knowledge and experience in the global
and U.S. pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors, as well as
significant legal and financial expertise.
The Board’s seven incumbent director nominees are:
- Nesli Basgoz, M.D. – Dr. Basgoz,
53, is the Associate Chief for Clinical Affairs, Division of
Infectious Diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and
serves on the hospital’s Board of Trustees. In addition, Dr. Basgoz
is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
Previously, she served as Clinical Director in the Infectious
Diseases Division of MGH for six years. Dr. Basgoz earned her M.D.
Degree and completed her residency in internal medicine at
Northwestern University Medical School. She also completed a
fellowship in the Infectious Diseases Division at the University of
California at San Francisco. She is board certified in both
infectious diseases and internal medicine.Dr. Basgoz’s broad
medical expertise and nationally recognized leadership in the
medical field, as well as her extensive clinical trial experience
has equipped her to effectively advise the Board and management
with respect to many strategic matters, including navigating
regulatory approvals and the clinical trial process. Moreover, her
particular expertise in infectious diseases has enabled Dr. Basgoz
to advise the Board and management with respect to the Company’s
current and potential portfolio of drugs within the relevant
indications, including Forest’s recently launched Teflaro product
and other antibiotics under development at Forest.
- Dan L. Goldwasser – Mr.
Goldwasser, 71, is a practicing attorney and has been a shareholder
since 1992 at the law firm Vedder Price, P.C., where he is a member
of the firm’s Accounting Law Practice Group. Mr. Goldwasser
previously served as Chairman of the American Bar Association’s
Business Law Section’s Committee on Law and Accounting and as the
American Bar Association’s Co-Chairman of The National Conference
of Lawyers and Certified Public Accountants. From 2003 to 2006, he
also was a member of the Auditing Standards Board of the American
Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Mr. Goldwasser holds a
B.A. from Harvard University and an LL.B. from Columbia Law
School.Mr. Goldwasser’s leadership roles in accounting
organization, service on the AICPA’s Auditing Standards Board, deep
expertise in legal, regulatory and accounting matters and his deep
understanding of Forest make him a valuable contributor to the
Board.
- Kenneth E. Goodman – Mr.
Goodman, 63, is the former President and Chief Operating Officer of
Forest, a position that he held from 1998 to 2006. For eighteen
years prior thereto, Mr. Goodman served as Forest’s Vice President,
Finance and Chief Financial Officer and was named Executive Vice
President, Operations in February 1998. From 1975 to 1980, he
served as a senior financial officer at Wyeth, and before that, as
a C.P.A. at Main Hurdman, which is now part of KPMG LLP. Mr.
Goodman currently serves Syracuse University as Vice Chairman of
the Board of Trustees, a member of the Executive Committee and
Chairman of the Audit Committee; he previously served as Chairman
of the Budget Committee. He is also Chairman of the International
Board of Directors of the Israel Cancer Research Fund and
Co-Chairman of its New York Board. Mr. Goodman is a C.P.A. and
holds a B.S. degree from The Whitman School of Management at
Syracuse University.Mr. Goodman’s intimate knowledge of Forest’s
operations, having served as President and Chief Operating Officer
of Forest with broad responsibility for sales, commercial
operations, compliance, manufacturing operations, information
technology and other areas, his substantial expertise in financial
matters, and his service as an important interface between
management and the Board as its presiding independent director,
make him a valuable member of the Board.
- Lawrence S. Olanoff, M.D., Ph.D.
– Dr. Olanoff, 59, served as Forest’s Chief Operating Officer from
2006 to 2010 and currently serves as Senior Scientific Adviser to
the Company. From July 2005 to October 2006, Dr. Olanoff was
President and Chief Executive Officer at Celsion Corporation, an
oncology drug development company. He also served as Executive Vice
President and Chief Scientific Officer of Forest from 1995 to 2005.
Prior to joining Forest in 1995, Dr. Olanoff served as Senior Vice
President of Clinical Research and Development at Sandoz
Pharmaceutical Corporation (now a division of the Novartis Group)
and at the Upjohn Company in a number of positions including
Corporate Vice President of Clinical Development and Medical
Affairs. Over his entire career, he was involved in 30 product
approvals. In addition, he is currently an adjunct Assistant
Professor and Special Adviser to the President for Corporate
Affairs at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), as well
as a Director of the MUSC Foundation for Research Development,
which is a non-profit foundation created to benefit the
university. He holds a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering and an M.D.
degree from Case Western Reserve University.Dr. Olanoff’s detailed
knowledge of the pharmaceutical industry, his broad operational
experience and research and development leadership over the course
of his career at Forest, Sandoz and Upjohn, including with respect
to thirty product approvals, and his service as a senior executive
and intimate knowledge of Forest’s operations combine to make him
an important asset to the Board.
- Lester B. Salans, M.D. – Dr.
Salans, 75, is a Clinical Professor and member of the Clinical
Attending Staff of Internal Medicine at the Mount Sinai Medical
School. Prior thereto, Dr. Salans was a senior executive at Sandoz
Pharmaceutical Corporation (now a division of the Novartis Group).
Dr. Salans is a former Director of the National Institutes of
Arthritis, Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National
Institutes of Health. He served as Professor of Medicine and
Director of the Division of Endocrinology at the Dartmouth
Hitchcock Medical Center, Hanover, from 1968 to 1975. He also
founded and is president of LBS Advisors, Inc., a consultancy
serving several pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies,
academic institutions, the National Institutes of Health and many
investment firms. He serves on the Board of Directors of PharmaIN
Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company. Dr. Salans earned a B.A.
from University of Michigan and M.D. from University of
Illinois.Dr. Salans’ recognized leadership in the medical field,
his varied positions in the pharmaceutical sector, and particular
medical expertise in the fields of diabetes mellitus, obesity and
endocrinology and clinical research experience bring valuable
perspectives to the Board on research and development matters
generally and with respect to the Company’s current and potential
portfolio drugs within such indications. As a practicing physician
in addition to his other roles, Dr. Salans bridges the gap between
basic science and clinical medicine, enabling him to offer valuable
insights to the Board.
- Howard Solomon – Mr. Solomon,
83, is Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of Forest.
He began his career as an attorney at leading law firms in New York
and joined Forest in 1964 as a director and secretary of the Board
while serving as outside counsel for the Company. He became CEO of
Forest in 1977 and Chairman in 1998. Mr. Solomon is a Trustee of
the New York Presbyterian Hospital and previously served on the
Board of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories. He is currently a member
of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the
Metropolitan Opera and Chairman of its Finance Committee. He also
serves on the Board of the New York City Ballet. Mr. Solomon
graduated from the City College of New York and holds a J.D. from
Yale University.We believe that Mr. Solomon’s experience as a
senior executive and leader in our industry, his in-depth knowledge
of our Company and its day-to-day operations and his strong record
and strategic vision for the Company qualify him to serve on our
Board.
- Peter J. Zimetbaum, M.D. – Dr.
Zimetbaum, 47, has served as Director of Clinical Cardiology at
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston (BIDMC) since 2005
and served as Director of Clinical Electrophysiology at BIDMC from
2001 to 2005. Additionally, since 2006, Dr. Zimetbaum has been an
Associate Professor of Medicine at the Harvard Medical School
(HMS), and he currently serves on the HMS Standing Committee on
Conflicts of Interest. Dr. Zimetbaum received his M.D. degree from
the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 1990 and is board
certified in both cardiovascular medicine and cardiovascular
electrophysiology.Dr. Zimetbaum’s extensive experience in the
practice of medicine and clinical trials provides the Board and
management with the perspectives of physicians and other healthcare
providers who use the Company’s products and with insight into the
clinical trial process. His expertise in cardiology, including the
cardiovascular safety profile of products, is a valuable resource
to the Board and management in analyzing and developing current and
potential portfolio drugs. In addition, his service on Harvard
Medical School’s conflict of interest committee provides Forest
with important insights on the ethics of healthcare
Annual Meeting
Shareholders of record as of June 24, 2011 are entitled to vote
at the Annual Meeting, which has been set for August 18, 2011 and
will take place at the office of JPMorgan Chase & Co. at 270
Park Avenue in New York, NY.
About Forest Laboratories
Forest Laboratories' (NYSE: FRX) longstanding global
partnerships and track record developing and marketing
pharmaceutical products in the United States have yielded its
well-established central nervous system and cardiovascular
franchises and innovations in anti-infective and respiratory
medicine. The Company's pipeline, the most robust in its history,
includes product candidates in all stages of development across a
wide range of therapeutic areas. The Company is headquartered in
New York, NY. To learn more, visit www.FRX.com.
Forward Looking Information
Except for the historical information contained herein, this
release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These
statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including
the difficulty of predicting FDA approvals, the acceptance and
demand for new pharmaceutical products, the impact of competitive
products and pricing, the timely development and launch of new
products, changes in laws and regulations affecting the healthcare
industry and the risk factors listed from time to time in Forest
Laboratories’ Annual Reports on Form 10-K (including the Annual
Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2011),
Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and any subsequent SEC filings.
Important Additional Information
Forest Laboratories, its directors, director nominees and
certain of its executive officers may be deemed to be participants
in the solicitation of proxies from Forest shareholders in
connection with the matters to be considered at Forest
Laboratories’ 2011 Annual Meeting. On July 18, 2011, Forest
Laboratories filed its definitive proxy statement (as it may be
amended, the “Proxy Statement”) with the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) in connection with such
solicitation of proxies from Forest shareholders. FOREST
SHAREHOLDERS ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO READ THE PROXY STATEMENT
AND ACCOMPANYING PROXY CARD AS THEY CONTAIN IMPORTANT
INFORMATION. Detailed information regarding the identity of
participants, and their direct or indirect interests, by security
holdings or otherwise, is set forth in the Proxy Statement,
including Appendix B thereto. Shareholders can obtain the Proxy
Statement, any amendments or supplements to the Proxy Statement and
other documents filed by Forest Laboratories with the SEC for no
charge at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Copies are also
available at no charge at Forest Laboratories’ website at
www.frx.com or by writing to Forest Laboratories at 909 Third
Avenue, New York, New York 10022.
Forest Road Acquisition (NYSE:FRX)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2024 to Jun 2024
Forest Road Acquisition (NYSE:FRX)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2023 to Jun 2024