Executives of Biogen Idec Inc said on Wednesday they did not yet have the results of a shareholder vote on a slate of four dissident directors nominated by Carl Icahn.

But Alexander Denner, managing director of Icahn Partners, told reporters that according to his proxy solicitors, two of the four -- himself and Richard Mulligan -- had received enough votes to join the 13-member board.

Shareholders in the biotechnology company voted on several Icahn-backed proposals, including a slate of four dissident directors. Icahn, who owns a 5.6 stake in the company, wants the board to consider splitting it in two.

Biogen Chairman Bruce Ross had recessed the meeting for three hours, saying that shareholders needed more time to vote. He resumed the parley at 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT), said that final results were not yet available, and promptly adjourned it.

Ross and the rest of Biogen's board and top executives then filed quickly out of the room, leaving Denner and a handful of Icahn associates, though not the billionaire himself.

I actually would have liked to talk to them, but they ran out the door, Denner said.

This was the second year in a row that Icahn has mounted a proxy campaign against the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company. Last year he wanted to sell the company, but now he is calling for its board to consider dividing it.

He argues that Biogen would do better as two separate businesses, one focused on neurology and another targeting cancer treatments.

Last year Icahn's slate was voted down by a ratio of 75 to 25.

Biogen shares were up 88 cents or 1.7 percent at $53.20 on the Nasdaq, off an earlier high at $54.50.

(Reporting by Scott Malone, Editing by Maureen Bavdek, Gerald E. McCormick and Matthew Lewis)

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