Biovail lawyer defends annual meeting process

TORONTO - A lawyer for Biovail Corp. (TSX:BVF) spoke in court Tuesday to defend the conduct of the annual meeting at which founder and former CEO Eugene Melnyk failed to shake up the drug company's board and management. Melnyk is seeking a Superior Court declaration that the June 25 meeting proceeded illegally after he withdrew his dissident proxies before the vote, leaving less than half of the company's stock represented. Biovail counsel Joel Richler argued that a hasty board decision to reduce the quorum requirement to 25 per cent is valid and will be made permanent in a future... [read full story]