| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Traded as | NASDAQ: BIIB NASDAQ-100 Component S&P 500 Component |
| Industry | Biotechnology |
| Founded | 2003 |
| Headquarters | Weston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Key people | William D. Young (Chairman) George A. Scangos (CEO) |
| Products | Rituxan Avonex Tysabri |
| Revenue | US$ 4.716 billion (2010)[1] |
| Operating income | US$ 1.249 billion (2010)[1] |
| Net income | US$ 899 million (2010)[1] |
| Total assets | US$ 8.092 billion (2010)[1] |
| Total equity | US$ 5.449 billion (2010)[1] |
| Employees | 4,850 (2010)[1] |
| Website | BiogenIdec.com |
Biogen Idec, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) is a biotechnology company specializing in drugs for neurological disorders, autoimmune disorders and cancer. The company was formed in 2003 by the merger of Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Biogen Inc. and San Diego, California-based IDEC Pharmaceuticals (formed in 1986 by biotech pioneers Ivor Royston and Howard Birndorf).[2] Biogen, one of the oldest biotechnology companies, was founded in 1978 in Geneva[3] by several biologists, including Phillip Sharp of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Walter Gilbert of Harvard (who served as CEO during the start-up phase) and Charles Weissmann of Zurich University (who contributed the first product interferon-alpha).
Biogen Idec stock is a component of several stock indices such as the S&P 500, S&P 1500, and NASDAQ-100.
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Biogen Idec's products include multiple sclerosis (MS) treatments Avonex (interferon beta-1a) and Tysabri (natalizumab); the latter is also approved for treatment of Crohn's disease, and is co-marketed with Élan. Biogen Idec also makes Rituxan (rituximab), a treatment for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma which is also approved for rheumatoid arthritis; Rituxan is co-marketed with Genentech.[4] The company acquired Fumaderm (fumaric acid esters), a psoriasis treatment (licensed in Germany) when it acquired Fumapharm AG in 2006. In December, 2007, Biogen Idec sold the U.S. rights for Zevalin (ibritumomab tiuxetan), another treatment for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, to Cell Therapeutics, but continues to produce it for European marketing partner Bayer Schering Pharma. In 2006, the company sold rights for Amevive (alefacept), another psoriasis treatment, to Astellas Pharma, continuing to manufacture the drug under contract.[5]
The company's experimemtal drug BG-12 is in late stage clinical trials. BG-12 is designed to treat relapsing-remitting MS. When given twice daily, BG-12 cut the relapse rate by 44 percent at two years compared with a placebo. When given three times a day, it cut the relapse rate by 51 percent. If approved BG-12 could become the world's leading treatment for MS.[6]
Biogen Idec is headquartered in Weston, Massachusetts, and operates research and development facilities in Cambridge and San Diego. Biogen Idec operates manufacturing facilities in Kendall Square and in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. The company has also built a Large Scale Manufacturing plant in Hillerød, Denmark.
Biogen Idec maintains its international headquarters in Zug, Switzerland, and operates an International regulatory & clinical center of excellence in Maidenhead, UK. Biogen Idec has direct commercial affiliates in Germany, France, Spain/Portugal, UK/Ireland, the Benelux, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Austria, Canada, Japan, China, India and Australia. In Italy and in Switzerland, Biogen Idec markets its products through two joint venture companies set up with the privately held Italian company Dompe Biotec.
Biogen Idec's principal competitors include Teva, Sanofi Aventis, Serono, and Bayer Schering Pharma.
As of 2004[update], Biogen Idec derives most of its income from sales of multiple sclerosis treatment Avonex and from partnership royalties on Rituxan from Genentech, which markets Rituxan in the US. Roche markets Rituxan outside the US as MabThera.
Biogen Idec is managed day-to-day by an executive group composed of nine officers. As customary for a publicly-traded company, BIIB is also overseen by a board of directors that votes on important company decisions. The executive chairman and chief executive officer both hold positions on the board of directors. The directors are Bruce R. Ross (chairman), George A. Scangos Ph.D.(CEO), Lawrence C. Best, Marijn E. Dekkers, Alan B. Glassberg, Thomas F. Keller, Nancy L. Leaming, Robert W. Pangia, Cecil Pickett, Lynn Schenk, Phillip A. Sharp, and William D. Young.[7]
Investor Carl Icahn launched a proxy fight seeking to elect three of his own nominees to the Biogen Idec board at the company's June 19, 2008 annual meeting of shareholders. Icahn's nominees were Alexander J. Denner, Anne B. Young, and Richard C. Mulligan, all of whom had served on the board of ImClone Systems since Icahn took control of that company.[8] None of Icahn's nominees were elected.
On February 28, 2005, Biogen Idec and marketing partner Elan Pharmaceuticals voluntarily suspended marketing of natalizumab, and also suspended dosing in all ongoing clinical trials. Natalizumab had been approved in the US in November 2004 for treatment of patients with relapsing remitting MS.
The two companies announced the suspension after two participants involved in one study were diagnosed with a severe brain condition, progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), after two years of combination therapy with Biogen's version of interferon beta-1a. One of those two patients died. Subsequently, another patient who had previously died in a separate clinical trial of natalizumab in patients with Crohns disease was re-evaluated as having had PML. In total, 3 cases of PML were identified, of which 2 cases were fatal.[9][10]
On 08/2008 the company announced 2 more cases of PML in Europe.[11]
Biogen Idec stock lost more than 40% of its value when the drug suspension news was released on February 28, 2005.
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