Business
Biogen’s CEO Says He Doesn’t Want ‘Whole Portfolio of Moonshots’
Christopher Viehbacher will consider acquisitions to expand the company’s focus beyond difficult brain diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
Biogen headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Photographer: Adam Glanzman/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and ALS are some of the toughest problems in medicine. Biogen Inc. wants to make drugs for all of them. It’s an ambitious goal that could produce medical breakthroughs—but so far it’s led to few commercial successes.
Therein lies the problem that Christopher Viehbacher, Biogen’s new chief executive officer, is trying to solve. The 45-year-old biotech company has remained heavily focused on some of the most challenging areas of neurology, even as many Big Pharma players have cut back.