Despite pressure from a prominent hedge fund to strip Allergan CEO Brent Saunders of his chairman duties, Allergan shareholders rejected a proposal that would have immediately split the roles of chairman and CEO, according to Reuters.
At the drugmaker's annual shareholders meeting, 61 percent of investors voted against the proposal while 38 percent backed the split. About 2 percent abstained from voting.
Allergan has spent the first quarter of 2019 fending off criticism from Appaloosa, an activist hedge fund that believes separating the roles is the necessary first step "toward arresting the steady decline of what was once a great company," according to the report.
While Allergan agreed earlier this year to split the CEO and chairman roles at the next leadership transition, the hedge fund was dissatisfied with the plan, calling it a "half measure."
Shortly afterward, a proposal was drafted to immediately split the roles, but the plan was struck down.