ISS Switches Sides, Backs Icahn in Forest Laboratories, Inc. Fight

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn said he won the support of Institutional Shareholder Services Inc., a proxy adviser, for two of his candidates for the board of Forest Laboratories Inc. (FRX) (FRX). ISS recommended Forest shareholders vote for Daniel Ninivaggi, Icahn Enterprises LP (IEP) (IEP)’s chief executive officer, and Pierre Legault, CEO of Stone Management LLC, Icahn, the New York-based drugmaker’s second-largest shareholder, said today in a statement. Icahn said last month that Forest CEO Howard Solomon had refused to put two of his nominees on the board to end a second proxy fight in as many years. Icahn, who failed last year to get any of his four candidates elected, has criticized Forest’s management for what he says was a lack in preparation for the loss in March of patent protection on its top-selling drug, the antidepressant Lexapro.