(Reuters) - Influential proxy firm ISS on Monday urged shareholders of generic drugmaker Mylan (NASDAQ:MYL) NV to vote against most of the company's nominees to its board of directors, ahead of a shareholder meeting later this month.
Mylan has come under fire for sharply increasing the price of EpiPen and classifying the life-saving treatment as a generic rather than a branded product, which led to much smaller rebates to state Medicaid programs. Mylan faces multiple investigations.
"All incumbent directors should be considered accountable for material failures of risk oversight over a number of years, when warning signs were available to (Mylan) but no actions appear to have been taken," ISS said in a report, citing an erosion in "shareholder value" as a result of the EpiPen controversy.
ISS recommended that shareholders vote against ten of Mylan's director nominees including CEO Heather Bresch, President Rajiv Malik and Chairman Robert Coury.
The proxy firm, however, backed new director nominee Sjoerd Vollenbregt.
Mylan met with ISS last week and discussed the role of Coury in growing the company, and defended his compensation, which was more than $97 million in 2016.