Biogen shareholders voted to add biotech executive Susan Langer, who is the romantic partner of departing director Alex Denner, to its board of directors on Monday, concluding a weekslong episode that led some investors to question the company’s leadership.
Langer, 32, will join the eight-member board for a one-year term. Denner, who nominated her, did not stand for reelection. The results of Monday’s shareholder vote remain preliminary, and Biogen said it will disclose the final tally within four business days.
Biogen did not disclose the relationship between Denner and Langer when it announced her candidacy June 12, a decision that rankled some investors and former employees of the company. Doron Junger, who leads the hedge fund Sanvia Capital, wrote on Twitter that Biogen’s omission of the relationship “was ill-conceived, leaving us and others with the sense that the company attempted to conceal it.”