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Author: Jean-Claude Muller, 穆卓Executive Editor at BtoBioInnovation  jcm9144@gmail.com

SPECIAL REPORT #22.8

Biogen is looking for a new CEO.

On May 3, Biogen announced that its current CEO, Michel Vounatsos, is ending his five-year-plus tenure and is on the search for his successor. Vounatsos will continue to lead the company during the transition period which he called “a natural event” that would be “good for everyone involved”.

Aduhelm was the first new Alzheimer’s treatment approved by the US FDA in almost two decades and was expected to become a blockbuster drug for Biogen and its partner Eisai. The controversial issue around the approval and the rollout of the drug have been disastrous for the Cambridge company.

On Tuesday Biogen also announced a plan to “substantially eliminate” its commercial infrastructure for Aduhelm and is expected to save Biogen $500 million a year and thus bring the total cost-saving target to $1 billion.

Biogen is now reprioritising its R&D pipeline to potentially “accelerate, terminate or partner certain programs”. “We will anchor to areas where we have success, where we have expertise and build around those areas”, Prya Singhal, Biogen interim R&D head said on Tuesday.

On several occasions we have stated that the setback of an expected blockbuster has always the same consequence: the layoff of the R&D head and often the one of the CEO. In the case of Biogen, it looks like both have occurred.  On November 15, 2021, Biogen had already announced that Alfred “Al” W. Sandrock, head of R&D and a 23-year veteran of Biogen was retiring from the Company effective December 31, 2021.

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