Biogen Overview

A biopharmaceutical company called Biogen Inc. (Biogen) finds, creates, and distributes pharmaceuticals and biosimilars for the treatment of various neurological and neurodegenerative illnesses. Avonex (interferon beta-1a), Tysabri (natalizumab), Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate), Fampyra (prolonged-release fampridine tablets), and Plegridy (peginterferon beta-1a) are among the company’s marketed medications for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS); Spinraza (nusinersen) is a medication for the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA); and it has a number of product candidates that target a variety of diseases, including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, stroke, Parkinson’s disease, CNS and neuromuscular disorders, Alzheimer’s disease, and multiple sclerosis. The business offers its goods through distributors in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and other regions as well as direct sales representatives and marketing teams. The US city of Cambridge, Massachusetts, is home to Biogen’s headquarters. The company has over 9000 employees.

One of the industry’s forerunners in biotechnology is Biogen. It began in 1978 when Walter H. Gilbert, a Nobel Prize-winning biologist and Harvard professor at the time, made the decision to try translating his findings into commercially viable goods. In the middle of the 1970s, biotechnology was still in its infancy. In1953, scientists discovered the structure of DNA, which helped them to better understand how cells generate proteins. The beginning of the 1970s, however, saw a more fast pace of development. Recombinant DNA, which involves splicing a portion of DNA from one gene into another, was first identified by two American scientists in 1973. That finding was significant because it demonstrated that microbes could be genetically altered and, more importantly, that it was possible to manufacture large quantities of proteins that were only sometimes present in nature.

UC San Diego immunologists Ivor Royston and Robert E. Sobol, San Diego biotech entrepreneur Howard Birndorf, and Stanford University cancer researchers Ron Levy and Richard Miller founded IDEC Pharmaceuticals in1985. In2003, Biogen merged with IDEC Pharmaceuticals and took the name Biogen Idec. Following the acquisition, Biogen Idec rose to the position of third-largest biotechnology business globally.

As a result of changes in its research focus areas, the business has since simplified its name and gone back to just Biogen. A number of stock indices, including the S&P100, S&P500, S&P1500, and NASDAQ-100, include Biogen stock as a constituent. The company is traded on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the ticker symbol BIIB.

The business stated in May 2006 that it will pay $250 million to buy Conforma Therapeutics, a cancer expert. Later that month, the business declared its intent to purchase Fumapharm AG, acquiring control of Fumaderm and BG-12, an oral fumarate that was being researched for the treatment of psoriasis and multiple sclerosis.

In 2007, the business entered into a licensing arrangement for the Alzheimer’s disease medicine Aducanumab with Neurimmune, a subsidiary of the University of Zurich. Later, Neurimmune transferred to Biogen its rights in exchange for $200 million in license payments. The business made the announcement earlier that year that it would purchase Syntonix Pharmaceuticals for up to $120 million, acquiring access to Syntonix’s primary hemophilia B medicine as well as the technology for creating inhalable medications.

Fampyra, a medication manufactured by Biogen, was given conditional marketing authorization in 2011. Biogen has agreed to give further information on the long-term advantages and safety of Fampyra as part of the conditional approval.

Biogen and Isis Pharmaceuticals announced their global collaboration agreement for the development and study of antisense medicines to treat neurological and neuromuscular illnesses on December 10, 2012.

In February 2013, Bloomberg reported that Biogen intended to pay Elan $3.25 billion for the entire rights to the multiple sclerosis medication Tysabri.

In December 2014, Biogen revealed that their experimental Alzheimer’s disease treatment, Aducanumab, was getting ready to undergo a late-stage trial after the drug significantly improved cognition and decreased brain plaque levels in an earlier study. The Alzheimer’s medicine Aducanumab from Biogen is the first experimental therapy to demonstrate meaningful effects in terms of decreasing cognitive decline and lowering brain-eroding plaques in March 2015. Aducanumab will be evaluated in adults with early Alzheimer’s disease in two late-stage studies that Biogen will launch in July 2015. These studies are called ENGAGE and EMERGE.

Biogen stated on May 3, 2016, that Bioverativ, its hemophilia business, would be spun off. The hemophilia industry would develop into a stand-alone, publicly traded corporation. In 2016, Bioverativ provided two hemophilia medications, Alprolix and Eloctate, and it intends to expand its hemophilia-focused objectives.

The sole medication for spinal muscular atrophy, Spinraza (nusersin), was created by Biogen in 2016. One of today’s most expensive medications is this one. $750,000 in fines for the first year and $350,000 for each year after that. Although there is currently no treatment, Spinraza dramatically raises both newborns’ and adults’ quality of life.

2017 saw the conversion of Biogen’s medication Fampyra from conditional marketing authorisation to normal marketing approval. EU MS sufferers take Fampyra to enhance their walking ability.

In March 2019, Biogen revealed that it would pay $25.50 per share ($800 million in total) to purchase Nightstar Therapeutics. Nightstar focuses on gene therapies for inherited retinal illnesses that are based on adeno-associated viruses. A setback in the development of an Alzheimer’s medicine caused Biogen’s shares to drop precipitously in March 2019. It halted the testing of aducanumab, a medication it co-produced with Eisai. However, they declared in October 2019 that they and Eisai would work to secure aducanumab FDA clearance.

On October 22, 2019, Biogen declared its intention to apply for the FDA to approve Aducanumab, despite the fact that two Phase 3 clinical trials had already been terminated for futility.

In order to create drugs for neurological and neuromuscular diseases, Biogen and Sangamo Therapeutics announced a global licensing agreement in February 2020.

Along with its North Carolina manufacturing facility, Biogen completed construction on a cutting-edge facility in Solothurn, Switzerland, in May 2020. This facility will begin producing the Alzheimer’s drug aducanumab in late 2021. When Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway purchased 648,447 shares of Biogen for a total of $192.4 million, the monoclonal antibody, which was co-developed with Eisai, piqued the curiosity of many biotech investors.

On July 8, 2020, Biogen and Eisai declared that they had jointly and successfully applied for FDA regulatory and marketing approval for Aducanumab.

Biogen Inc. deposited $10 million in OneUnited Bank in September 2020 to provide more capital for financing commercial and residential development in Black areas. In order to jointly develop a number of depression medicines, the business declared in November that it would spend $875 million upfront and buy a $650 million interest in Sage Therapeutics.

Acuranumab was given fast clearance by the FDA on June 7 2021, under the brand name Aduhelm,[39] which turned out to be contentious. The medicine cost $56,000 USD per year, however many insurances do not pay for it as they wait for more evidence of its efficacy. Additionally, it will not get US government funding outside of clinical studies. The medicine has been shown to diminish amyloid-beta plaques in the brain, which is anticipated to be advantageous to patients, according to the Food and Treatment Administration website. The FDA has said that the medication may be removed from the market if the post-approval trial does not show that Aduhelm is effective.

With US$12.274 billion in yearly revenue, up 7.2% over the prior fiscal year, Biogen posted earnings of US$2.539 billion for the 2017 fiscal year. In November 2018, Biogen’s market capitalization was over US$63 billion and its shares were trading at over $289 per share. On the 2021 Fortune 500 list of the biggest American corporations by revenue, the company came in at number 228. The company’s current recorded revenue is $10.98 billion.