Oncolytics Biotech Inc T.ONC

Biogen BOD awards CEO US$17.69 million despite drug failure

[Noteable]

April 29, 2022 - Biogen awarded its CEO a total 2021 pay package worth about $17.69 million considering the incredibly rocky rollout of Biogen’s controversial Alzheimer’s disease drug, Aduhelm.

Aducanumab is the amyloid-targeting antibody’s generic moniker.

While Aduhelm once bore high sales expectations, the drug brought in a slim $1 million in 2021’s fourth quarter and just $3 million for all of 2021.


More recently, the drug’s trajectory was blunted in the U.S. by a stifling coverage plan from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid, which limits the use of Aduhelm and other meds like it to patients in certain clinical trials.

Last week, meanwhile, Biogen said it had scrapped its Aduhelm filing in the EU after talks with regulators suggested an approval was unlikely.

Despite months of turbulence at Biogen, the company’s CEO has come out the other side of 2021 with a pay package to rival many of his peers at other major pharmas.

https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/biogen-ceos-2021-pay-remains-level-despite-aduhelm-tribulations

[Noteable]

This morning, Biogen announced the leadership change in its quarterly financial report. Michel Vounatsos, who has guided the company since 2017, plans to depart the company when a new CEO is found.  https://www.biospace.com/article/vounatsos-out-biogen-is-on-the-hunt-for-a-new-ceo/

[Noteable]

Nearly 40% of Biogen investors said they want a CEO with a track record of successful business development, either through in-licensing deals or acquisitions, an RBC Capital Markets survey shows. By comparison, R&D expertise and cost-cutting experience were less valued. https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/new-biogen-ceos-most-prized-expertise-dealmaking-experience-say-investors