ICN Dissidents Have Demands, Questions

A dissident shareholder group demanded that ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc. speed its restructuring and questioned management’s intentions to follow through on a planned breakup of the Costa Mesa drug maker.

The group, Special Situation Partners Inc., outlined its questions in a letter to ICN Chief Executive Milan Panic. ICN last week said third-quarter profit was far short of analysts’ estimates because royalties fell for ribavirin, a component it licenses to Schering-Plough Corp. to make a hepatitis treatment.

Special Situation Partners Chairman Tito Tettamanti asked in the letter about the status of spinoffs of ICN’s international unit and Ribapharm business, which controls the rights to ribavirin. He also said ICN should consider selling part or all of its business to boost shareholder value and complained that Panic hasn’t sold the international unit, which hasn’t performed as well as analysts expected.

ICN didn’t return calls.

ICN shares, which have fallen 36% in the last year, closed Wednesday at $24.21, off 54 cents, on the NYSE.