Biogen stays interesting

Six months after the failure of a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease on which Biogen staked its future, the company has become “a total show-me” story when it comes to new science, as an analyst at Stifel put it. So what does it mean when the top scientist quits?

Yesterday, Biogen disclosed that Michael Ehlers, its head of R&D, is departing to split his time between a venture fund and a gene therapy startup. He’d been there since 2016, and his job will now go to Al Sandrock, Biogen’s chief medical officer and the architect of its recent research past.

The announcement, according to analysts at J.P. Morgan, “does little to instill confidence in the company’s R&D outlook/direction,” and it arrives as Biogen’s pipeline continues to shrink. Last month alone, the company endured a clinical failure with a treatment for lung disease and ended development of yet another Alzheimer’s therapy. But, as STAT's Matt Herper writes, Sandrock could also be a long-term play.

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