Eugene Melnyk

Biovail founder concedes defeat

Tracy Staton — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 09:55:11 -0400

Biovail founder Eugene Melnyk is giving up the fight. After dogging the company for months--and winning a court order requiring shareholders to re-vote on his proposals--Melnyk said he was abandoning his plan to kick out Biovail's board of directors to bring in his own management. Instead, he'll push forward with plans to start his own drug company.

Analysts weren't totally surprised by the move, even though it came shortly after his court victory last week. "He didn't have a lot of momentum," one said. "Even with the court's decision there wasn't a lot going in his favor and he can't have expected a huge swing in his direction."

Biovail management has to be breathing a sigh of relief. Between regulators and Melnyk, the company has had plenty to contend with lately.

- see the New York Times story

Proxy battle brewing over Biovail

Tracy Staton — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 10:15:59 -0400

Eugene Melnyk (photo) said he'd do it, and now he has. The founder of Canada's Biovail launched a proxy battle for the company, looking to sweep out its board and senior management. Melnyk has a dissident group of shareholders backing him; in a proxy circular distributed by the group, Melnyk claims that Biovail is a "broken company in desperate need of change." They say they would hire a former chief, Bruce Brydon, as CEO and install "industry leaders" as board members. Melnyk himself would not serve.

This is just the latest in a series of tumultuous--some might say unfortunate--events at Biovail, which has faced litigation and regulatory problems over the past five years. Melnyk ran afoul of securities regulators, along with three other current and former execs. The company paid $138 million last year to settle a class-action suit. And recently, Biovail agreed to pay almost $25 million to settle corruption and conspiracy charges stemming from a product launch when Melnyk ran the company.

- read the Financial Times story
- see Biovail's response in BusinessWeek

Biovail to pay $25M in doc payoff claims

Tracy Staton — Mon, 19 May 2008 10:57:12 -0400

If only this were the last bit of old business Biovail needed to clear. In a deal with the U.S. Department of Justice, the Canadian drugmaker agreed to pay almost $25 million to settle claims that it paid docs and their office managers to get patients onto its Cardizem heart drug. CEO Bill Wells sounded pleased about the deal, saying that it "eliminates the significant exposure to the corporation" and would "immediately reduce our ongoing legal expenses."

And what a bunch of legal expenses they've been. Biovail has been under investigation by various government watchdogs and plagued by an ongoing fight with its founder and ex-chief Eugene Melnyk (photo). Little by little, the company has been extricating itself from these legal snarls, but it's not finished yet: the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged the company and several former and current execs with misleading investors and puffing up financial statements.

- see Biovail's release
- read the story at CNN Money
- check out the Pharmalot item

SPOTLIGHT: Melnyk drops suit against Biovail

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 06:59:52 -0400

Biovail founder Eugene Melnyk (photo) has withdrawn his lawsuit against the company and its current CEO after the two sides reached a tentative truce. Report