BIOGEN INC
For the period ended Dec 31, 2023. Filed Feb 14, 2024.
View on SEC.govAbout this filing
A company's yearly report to the SEC, with audited financial statements. It is the fullest account a company gives of its business, its finances and the risks it sees.
FY2023 · Filed Feb 14, 2024
Extracted filing text, with the paragraph anchors used by the comparison.
See the whole filing, with its images and exhibitsContents
Option agreement
For information about certain of our agreements with collaborators and other third parties, please read the subsection entitled Business Relationships below and Note 2, Acquisitions, Note 19, Collaborative and Other Relationships, and Note 20, Investments in Variable Interest Entities, to our consolidated financial statements included in this report.
BUSINESS RELATIONSHIPS
As part of our business strategy, we establish business relationships, including entering into licenses, joint ventures and collaborative arrangements with other companies, universities and medical research institutions, to assist in the clinical development and/or commercialization of certain of our products and product candidates and to provide support for our research programs. We also evaluate opportunities for acquiring products or rights to products and technologies that are complementary to our business from other companies, universities and medical research institutions.
Below is a brief description of certain business relationships and collaborations that expand our pipeline and provide us with certain rights to existing and potential new products and technologies. For additional information on certain of these relationships, including their ongoing financial and accounting impact on our business, please read Note 19, Collaborative and Other Relationships, to our consolidated financial statements included in this report.
EISAI
We have a collaboration agreement with Eisai to jointly develop and commercialize LEQEMBI (lecanemab), an anti-amyloid antibody for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Eisai serves as the lead of LEQEMBI development and regulatory submissions globally with both companies co-commercializing and co-promoting the product, and Eisai having final decision-making authority. All costs, including research, development, sales and marketing expense, are shared equally between us and Eisai. We and Eisai co-promote LEQEMBI and share profits and losses equally. We currently manufacture LEQEMBI drug substance and drug product and in March 2022 we extended our supply agreement with Eisai related to LEQEMBI from five years to ten years for the manufacture of LEQEMBI drug substance.
SAGE THERAPEUTICS, INC.
We have a global collaboration and license agreement with Sage to jointly develop and commercialize ZURZUVAE (zuranolone) for the treatment of PPD and potential treatment of MDD and BIIB124 (SAGE-324) for the potential treatment of essential tremor with potential in other neurological conditions such as epilepsy.
Under this collaboration, both companies will share equal responsibility and costs for development as well as profits and losses for commercialization in the U.S. Outside of the U.S., we are responsible for development and commercialization, excluding Japan, Taiwan and South Korea, with respect to zuranolone and may pay Sage potential tiered royalties in the high teens to low twenties.
IONIS
We have an exclusive, worldwide option and collaboration agreement with Ionis relating to the development and commercialization of antisense therapeutics for up to three gene targets. Under a separate collaboration and license agreement with Ionis, we have an exclusive, worldwide license to develop and commercialize SPINRAZA for the treatment of SMA. We also have a 10-year exclusive collaboration agreement with Ionis to develop novel ASO drug candidates for a broad range of neurological diseases.
In addition, we have research collaboration agreements with Ionis under which both companies perform discovery level research and will develop and commercialize new ASO drug candidates for the potential treatment of SMA and additional antisense or other therapeutics for the potential treatment of neurological diseases. In December 2018 we exercised our option with Ionis and obtained a worldwide, exclusive, royalty-bearing license to develop and commercialize QALSODY (tofersen), for the treatment of ALS with SOD1 mutations.
GENENTECH
We have agreements with Genentech that entitle us to certain business and financial rights with respect to RITUXAN, RITUXAN HYCELA, GAZYVA, OCREVUS, LUNSUMIO, COLUMVI, which was granted accelerated approval by the FDA during the second quarter of 2023, and have the option to add other potential anti-CD20 therapies.
DENALI
We have a collaboration and license agreement with Denali to co-develop and co-commercialize Denali's small molecule inhibitors of LRRK2 for Parkinson's disease. Under the LRRK2 Collaboration, both companies share responsibility and costs for global development based on specified percentages as well as profits and losses for commercialization in the U.S. and China. Outside the U.S. and China we are responsible for commercialization and may pay Denali potential tiered royalties.
SAMSUNG BIOEPIS
We have an agreement with Samsung Bioepis to commercialize, over a 10-year term, three anti-TNF biosimilar product candidates in certain countries in Europe and, in the case of BENEPALI, Japan. Under this agreement, we are commercializing BENEPALI, an etanercept biosimilar referencing ENBREL, IMRALDI, an adalimumab biosimilar referencing HUMIRA, and FLIXABI, an infliximab biosimilar referencing REMICADE, in certain countries in Europe.
In December 2019 we completed a transaction with Samsung Bioepis and acquired an option to extend our existing commercial agreement with Samsung Bioepis for BENEPALI, IMRALDI and FLIXABI in certain countries in Europe. We have also secured the exclusive rights to commercialize BYOOVIZ, a ranibizumab biosimilar referencing LUCENTIS, which has been approved in the U.S. and certain international markets, and TOFIDENCE, a tocilizumab biosimilar referencing ACTEMRA, which was approved in the U.S. during the third quarter of 2023. In addition to our commercialization agreements with Samsung Bioepis, we license certain of our proprietary technology to Samsung Bioepis in connection with Samsung Bioepis' development, manufacture and commercialization of its biosimilar products.
UCB
We have a collaboration agreement with UCB to jointly develop and commercialize dapirolizumab pegol, an anti-CD40L pegylated Fab, for the potential treatment of SLE and other future agreed indications. Both companies will share equally costs incurred for agreed indications, including research, development, sales and marketing expense. If marketing approval is obtained, both companies will co-promote dapirolizumab pegol and share profits and losses equally.
REGULATORY
Our current and contemplated activities and the products, technologies and processes that result from such activities are subject to substantial government regulation.
REGULATION OF PHARMACEUTICALS
PRODUCT APPROVAL AND POST-APPROVAL REGULATION IN THE U.S.
APPROVAL PROCESS
Before new pharmaceutical products may be sold in the U.S., preclinical studies and clinical trials of the products must be conducted and the results submitted to the FDA for approval. With limited exceptions, the FDA requires companies to register both pre-approval and post-approval clinical trials and disclose clinical trial results in public databases. Failure to register a trial or disclose study results within the required time periods could result in penalties, including civil monetary penalties. Clinical trial programs must establish efficacy, determine an appropriate dose and dosing regimen and define the conditions for safe use. This is a high-risk process that requires stepwise clinical studies in which the candidate product must successfully meet predetermined endpoints. The results of the preclinical and clinical testing of a product are then submitted to the FDA in the form of a BLA or a NDA. In response to a BLA or NDA, the FDA may grant marketing approval, request additional information or deny the application if it determines the application does not provide an adequate basis for approval.
Product development and receipt of regulatory approval takes a number of years, involves the expenditure of substantial resources and depends on a number of factors, including the severity of the disease in question, the availability of suitable alternative treatments, potential safety signals observed in preclinical or clinical tests and the risks and benefits of the product as demonstrated in clinical trials. The FDA has substantial discretion in the product approval process, and it is impossible to predict with any certainty whether and when the FDA will grant marketing approval. The agency may require the sponsor of a BLA or NDA to conduct additional clinical studies or to provide other scientific or technical information about the product, and these additional requirements may lead to unanticipated delays or expenses. Furthermore, even if a product is approved, the approval may be subject to limitations based on the FDA's interpretation of the existing pre-clinical and/or clinical data.
The FDA has developed four distinct approaches intended to facilitate the development and expedite the regulatory review of therapeutically important drugs, especially when the drugs are the first available treatment or have advantages over existing treatments: accelerated approval, fast track, breakthrough therapy and priority review.
Accelerated Approval: The FDA may grant “accelerated approval” to products that treat serious or life-threatening illnesses and that provide meaningful therapeutic benefits to patients over existing treatments. Under this pathway, the FDA may approve a product based on surrogate endpoints or clinical endpoints other than survival or irreversible morbidity. When approval is based on surrogate endpoints or clinical endpoints other than survival or morbidity, the sponsor will be required to provide the FDA with confirmatory data post-approval to verify and describe clinical benefit. Under the FDA's accelerated approval regulations, if the FDA concludes that a drug that has been shown to be effective can be safely used only if distribution or use is restricted, it may require certain post-marketing restrictions to assure safe use. In addition, for products approved under accelerated approval, sponsors may be required to submit all copies of their promotional materials, including advertisements, to the FDA at least 30 days prior to initial dissemination. The FDA may withdraw approval if, for instance, post-marketing studies fail to verify clinical benefit, it becomes clear that restrictions on the distribution of the product are inadequate to ensure its safe use or if a sponsor fails to comply with the conditions of the accelerated approval.
Fast Track: The FDA may grant "fast track" status to products that treat a serious condition and have data demonstrating the potential to address an unmet medical need or a drug that has been designated as a qualified infectious disease product.
Breakthrough Therapy: The FDA may grant “breakthrough therapy” status to drugs designed to treat, alone or in combination with another drug or drugs, a serious or life-threatening disease or condition and for which preliminary clinical evidence suggests a substantial improvement over existing therapies based on a clinically significant endpoint. Breakthrough therapy status entitles the sponsor to earlier and more frequent meetings with the FDA regarding the development of nonclinical and clinical data and permits the FDA to offer product development or regulatory advice for the purpose of shortening the time to product approval. Breakthrough therapy status does not guarantee that a product will be eligible for priority review and does not ensure FDA approval.
Priority Review: “Priority review” only applies to applications (original or efficacy supplement) for a drug that treats a serious condition and, if approved, would provide a significant improvement in safety or effectiveness of the treatment, diagnosis or prevention of a serious condition. Priority review may also be granted for any supplement that proposes a labeling change due to studies completed in response to a written request from the FDA for pediatric studies, for an application for a drug that has been designated as a qualified infectious disease product or for any application or supplement for a drug submitted with a priority review voucher.
In December 2016 the FDA issued a rare pediatric disease priority review voucher to us in connection with the approval of SPINRAZA. Additionally, as part of our acquisition of Reata in September 2023 we obtained a rare pediatric disease priority review voucher in connection with the approval of SKYCLARYS, which was approved by the FDA in February 2023.
POST-MARKETING STUDIES
Regardless of the approval pathway employed, the FDA may require a sponsor to conduct additional post-marketing studies as a condition of approval to provide data on safety and effectiveness. If a sponsor fails to conduct the required studies, the FDA may withdraw its approval. In addition, if the FDA concludes that a drug that has been shown to be effective can be safely used only if distribution or use is restricted, it can mandate post-marketing restrictions to assure safe use. In such a case, the sponsor may be required to establish rigorous systems to assure use of the product under safe conditions. These systems are usually referred to as REMS. The FDA can impose financial penalties for failing to comply with certain post-marketing commitments, including REMS. In addition, any changes to an approved REMS must be reviewed and approved by the FDA prior to implementation.
ADVERSE EVENT REPORTING
We monitor information on side effects and adverse events reported during clinical studies and after marketing approval and report such information and events to regulatory agencies. Non-compliance with the FDA's safety reporting requirements may result in civil or criminal penalties. Side effects or adverse events that are reported during clinical trials can delay, impede or prevent marketing approval. Based on new safety information that emerges after approval, the FDA can mandate product labeling changes, impose a new REMS or the addition of elements to an existing REMS, require new post-marketing studies (including additional clinical trials) or suspend or withdraw approval of the product. These requirements may affect our ability to maintain marketing approval of our products or require us to make significant expenditures to obtain or maintain such approvals.
APPROVAL OF CHANGES TO AN APPROVED PRODUCT
If we seek to make certain types of changes to an approved product, such as adding a new indication, making certain manufacturing changes or changing manufacturers or suppliers of certain ingredients or components, the FDA will need to review and approve such changes in advance. In the case of a new indication, we are required to demonstrate with additional clinical data that the product is safe and effective for a use other than what was initially approved. FDA regulatory review may result in denial or modification of the planned changes, or requirements to conduct additional tests or evaluations that can substantially delay or increase the cost of the planned changes.
REGULATION OF PRODUCT ADVERTISING AND PROMOTION
The FDA regulates all advertising and promotion activities and communications for products under its jurisdiction both before and after approval. Pursuant to FDA guidance, a company can make safety and efficacy claims either in or consistent with the product label. However, physicians may prescribe legally available drugs for uses that are not described in the drug's labeling. Such off-label prescribing is common across medical specialties, and often reflects a physician's belief that the off-label use is the best treatment for patients. The FDA does not regulate the behavior of physicians in their choice of treatments, but FDA regulations do impose stringent restrictions on manufacturers' communications regarding off-label uses. Failure to comply with applicable FDA requirements may subject a company to adverse publicity, enforcement action by the FDA, corrective advertising and the full range of civil and criminal penalties available to the government.
REGULATION OF COMBINATION PRODUCTS
Combination products are defined by the FDA to include products comprising two or more regulated components (e.g., a biologic and a device). Biologics and devices each have their own regulatory requirements, and combination products may have additional requirements. Some of our marketed products meet this definition and are regulated under this framework and similar regulations outside the U.S., and we expect that some of our pipeline product candidates may be evaluated for regulatory approval under this framework as well.
In May 2017 new regulations governing medical devices and in-vitro diagnostic medical devices entered into force in the E.U. The medical devices regulations became applicable in May 2021 and the in-vitro diagnostic medical devices regulations became applicable in May 2022. All products covered by these regulations will be required to comply with them at the end of the transitional periods. These regulations introduce new requirements, including for clinical investigation of certain classifications of medical devices, require increased regulatory scrutiny, enhance the requirements for post market surveillance and vigilance and provide for greater transparency. These regulations also change the requirements for assessment of the medical device components of integral drug-device combination products, necessitating assessment of the device components under both the medical device and medicinal product regulatory regimes.
PRODUCT APPROVAL AND POST-APPROVAL REGULATION OUTSIDE THE U.S.
We market our products in numerous jurisdictions outside the U.S. Most of these jurisdictions have product approval and post-approval regulatory processes that are similar in principle to those in the U.S. In Europe, for example, where a substantial part of our ex-U.S. efforts are focused, there are several routes for marketing approval, depending on the type of product for which approval is sought. Under the centralized procedure, a company submits a single application to the EMA. The marketing authorization application is similar to the NDA or BLA in the U.S. and is evaluated by the CHMP, the expert scientific committee of the EMA responsible for human medicines. If the CHMP determines that the MAA fulfills the requirements for quality, safety and efficacy and that the medicine has a positive benefit risk balance, it will adopt a positive opinion recommending the granting of the marketing authorization by the EC. The CHMP opinion is not binding, but is typically adopted by the EC. A MAA approved by the EC is valid in all member states of the E.U. The centralized procedure is required for all biological products, orphan medicinal products and new treatments for neurodegenerative disorders, and it is available for certain other products, including those which constitute a significant therapeutic, scientific or technical innovation.
In addition to the centralized procedure, the European regulatory framework includes the following options for regulatory review and approval in the E.U. member states:
a national procedure, where the first application is made to the competent authority in one E.U. member state only;
a decentralized procedure, where applicants submit identical applications to several E.U. member states and receive simultaneous approval, if the medicine has not yet been authorized in any E.U. member state; and
a mutual recognition procedure, where applicants that have a medicine authorized in one E.U. member state can apply for mutual recognition of this authorization in other E.U. member states
As in the U.S., the E.U. also has distinct approaches intended to optimize the regulatory pathways for therapeutically important drugs, including the Priority Medicines Evaluation Scheme, accelerated assessment and conditional marketing authorization. Priority Medicines Evaluation Scheme is intended to provide additional support to medicine developers throughout the development process. Regulatory review timelines in the E.U. may be truncated under accelerated assessment for products that address an unmet medical need. In addition, conditional marketing authorizations may be granted for products in the interest of public health, where the benefit of immediate availability outweighs the risk of having less comprehensive data than normally required. Conditional marketing authorizations are valid for one year and can be renewed annually. The marketing authorization holder is required to complete specific obligations (ongoing or new studies and, in some cases, additional activities) with a view to providing comprehensive data confirming that the benefit risk balance is positive. Once comprehensive data on the product have been obtained, the marketing authorization may be converted into a standard marketing authorization.
Aside from the U.S. and the E.U., there are countries in other regions where it is possible to receive an "accelerated" review whereby the national regulatory authority will commit to truncated review timelines for products that meet specific medical needs.
In the E.U. there is detailed legislation on pharmacovigilance and extensive guidance on good pharmacovigilance practices. A failure to comply with the E.U. pharmacovigilance obligations may result in significant financial penalties for the marketing authorization holder.
Regardless of the approval process employed, various parties share responsibilities for the monitoring, detection and evaluation of adverse events post-approval, including national competent authorities, the EMA, the EC and the marketing authorization holder. The EMA’s Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee is responsible for assessing and monitoring the safety of human medicines and makes recommendations on product safety issues. Marketing authorization holders have an obligation to inform regulatory agencies of any new information which may influence the evaluation of benefits and risks of the medicinal product concerned.
In the U.S., the E.U. and other jurisdictions, regulatory agencies, including the FDA, conduct periodic inspections of NDA, BLA and marketing authorization holders to assess their compliance with pharmacovigilance obligations.
GOOD MANUFACTURING PRACTICES
Regulatory agencies regulate and inspect equipment, facilities and processes used in the manufacturing and testing of pharmaceutical and biologic products prior to approving a product. If, after receiving approval from regulatory agencies, a company makes a material change in manufacturing equipment, location or process, additional regulatory review and approval may be required. We also must adhere to current GMP and product-specific regulations enforced by regulatory agencies following product approval. The FDA, the EMA and other regulatory agencies also conduct periodic visits to re-inspect equipment, facilities and processes following the initial approval of a product. If, as a result of these inspections, it is determined that our equipment, facilities or processes do not comply with applicable regulations and conditions of product approval, regulatory agencies may seek civil, criminal or administrative sanctions or remedies against us, including significant financial penalties and the suspension of our manufacturing operations.
GOOD CLINICAL PRACTICES
The FDA, the EMA and other regulatory agencies promulgate regulations and standards for designing, conducting, monitoring, auditing and reporting the results of clinical trials to ensure that the data and results are accurate and that the rights and welfare of trial participants are adequately protected (commonly referred to as current GCP). Regulatory agencies enforce current GCP through periodic inspections of trial sponsors, principal investigators and trial sites, CROs and institutional review boards. If our studies fail to comply with applicable current GCP guidelines, the clinical data generated in our clinical trials may be deemed unreliable and relevant regulatory agencies may require us to perform additional clinical trials before approving our marketing applications. Noncompliance can also result in civil or criminal sanctions. We rely on third-parties, including CROs, to carry out many of our clinical trial-related activities. Failure of such third-parties to comply with current GCP can likewise result in rejection of our clinical trial data or other sanctions.
In April 2014 the EC adopted a new Clinical Trial Regulation, which was entered into force in June 2014 but did not apply until January 2022. There are transitional provisions for clinical trials which are ongoing at the date of application. Clinical trial applications could be made under the Clinical Trial Directive (the existing regulatory framework) through January 2023. All clinical trials must fully comply with the Clinical Trial Regulation by January 2025. The regulation harmonizes the procedures for assessment and governance of clinical trials throughout the E.U. and will require that information on the authorization, conduct and results of each clinical trial conducted in the E.U. be publicly available.
APPROVAL OF BIOSIMILARS
In the U.S. the PPACA amended the PHS Act to authorize the FDA to approve biological products, referred to as biosimilars or follow-on biologics, that are shown to be "highly similar" to previously approved biological products based upon potentially abbreviated data packages. The biosimilar must show it has no clinically meaningful differences in terms of safety and effectiveness from the reference product, and only minor differences in clinically inactive components are allowable in biosimilar products. The approval pathway for biosimilars does, however, grant a biologics manufacturer a 12-year period of exclusivity from the date of approval of its biological product before biosimilar competition can be introduced. There is uncertainty, however, as the approval framework for biosimilars originally was enacted as part of the PPACA. There have been, and there are likely to continue to be, federal legislative and administrative efforts to repeal, substantially modify or invalidate some or all of the provisions of the PPACA. If the PPACA is repealed, substantially modified or invalidated, it is unclear what, if any, impact such action would have on biosimilar regulation.
A biosimilars approval pathway has been in place in the E.U. since 2003. The EMA has issued a number of scientific and product specific biosimilar guidelines, including requirements for approving biosimilars containing monoclonal antibodies. In the E.U., biosimilars are generally approved under the centralized procedure. The approval pathway allows sponsors of a biosimilar to seek and obtain regulatory approval based in part on reliance on the clinical trial data of an innovator product to which the biosimilar has been demonstrated, through comprehensive comparability studies, to be “similar.” In many cases, this allows biosimilars to be brought to market without conducting the full complement of clinical trials typically required for novel biologic drugs.
ORPHAN DRUG ACT
Under the U.S. Orphan Drug Act, the FDA may grant orphan drug designation to drugs or biologics intended to treat a “rare disease or condition,” which generally is a disease or condition that affects fewer than 200,000 individuals in the U.S. If a product which has an orphan drug designation subsequently receives an initial FDA approval for the indication for which it has such designation, the product is entitled to orphan exclusivity, i.e., the FDA may not approve any other applications to market the same drug for the same indication for a period of seven years following marketing approval, except in certain very limited circumstances, such as if the later product is shown to be clinically superior to the orphan product. Legislation similar to the U.S. Orphan Drug Act has been enacted in other countries to encourage the research, development and marketing of medicines to treat, prevent or diagnose rare diseases. In the E.U., medicinal products that receive and maintain an orphan designation are entitled to 10 years of market exclusivity following approval, protocol assistance and access to the centralized procedure for marketing authorization. SPINRAZA has been granted orphan drug designation in the U.S., the E.U. and Japan. QALSODY and SKYCLARYS have been granted orphan drug designation in the U.S.
REGULATION PERTAINING TO PRICING AND REIMBURSEMENT
In both domestic and foreign markets, sales of our products depend, to a significant extent, on the availability and amount of reimbursement by third-party payors, including governments, private health plans and other organizations. Substantial uncertainty exists regarding the pricing and reimbursement of our products, and drug prices continue to receive significant scrutiny. Governments may regulate coverage, reimbursement and pricing of our products to control cost or affect utilization of our products. Challenges to our pricing strategies, by either government or private stakeholders, could harm our business. The U.S. and foreign governments have enacted and regularly consider additional reform measures that affect health care coverage and costs. Private health plans may also seek to manage cost and utilization by implementing coverage and reimbursement limitations. Other payors, including managed care organizations, health insurers, pharmacy benefit managers, government health administration authorities and private health insurers, seek price discounts or rebates in connection with the placement of our products on their formularies and, in some cases, may impose restrictions on access, coverage or pricing of particular drugs based on perceived value.
WITHIN THE U.S.
Medicaid: Medicaid is a joint federal and state program that is administered by the states for low income and disabled beneficiaries. Under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program, we are required to pay a rebate for each unit of product reimbursed by the state Medicaid programs. The amount of the rebate is established by law and is adjusted upward if the AMP increases more than inflation (measured by the Consumer Price Index - Urban). The rebate amount is calculated each quarter based on our report of current AMP and best price for each of our products to the CMS. The requirements for calculating AMP and best price are complex. We are required to report any revisions to AMP or best price previously reported within a certain period, which revisions could affect our rebate liability for prior quarters. In addition, if we fail to provide information timely or we are found to have knowingly submitted false information to the government, the statute governing the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program provides for civil monetary penalties.
Medicare: Medicare is a federal program that is administered by the federal government. The program covers individuals age 65 and over as well as those with certain disabilities. Medicare Part B generally covers drugs that must be administered by physicians or other health care practitioners, are provided in connection with certain durable medical equipment or are certain oral anti-cancer drugs and certain oral immunosuppressive drugs. Medicare Part B pays for such drugs under a payment methodology based on the average sales price of the drugs. Manufacturers, including us, are required to provide average sales price information to the CMS on a quarterly basis. The manufacturer-submitted information is used to calculate Medicare payment rates. If a manufacturer is found to have made a misrepresentation in the reporting of average sales price, the governing statute provides for civil monetary penalties.
Medicare Part D provides coverage to enrolled Medicare patients for self-administered drugs (i.e., drugs that are not administered by a physician). Medicare Part D is administered by private prescription drug plans approved by the U.S. government. Each drug plan establishes its own Medicare Part D formulary for prescription drug coverage and pricing, which the drug plan may modify from time-to-time. The prescription drug plans negotiate pricing with manufacturers and pharmacies, and may condition formulary placement on the availability of manufacturer discounts. In addition, manufacturers, including us, are required to provide to the CMS a discount of up to 70.0% on brand name prescription drugs utilized by Medicare Part D beneficiaries when those beneficiaries reach the coverage gap in their drug benefits.
On August 16, 2022, President Biden signed into law the IRA, which provides for (i) the government to negotiate prices for select high-cost Medicare Part D drugs (beginning in 2026) and Part B drugs (beginning in 2028), (ii) manufacturers to pay a rebate for Medicare Part B and Part D drugs when prices increase faster than inflation beginning in 2022 for Part D and 2023 for Part B, and (iii) Medicare Part D redesign which replaces the current coverage gap provisions and establishes a $2,000 cap for out-of-pocket costs for Medicare beneficiaries beginning in 2025, with manufacturers being responsible for 10.0% of costs up to the $2,000 cap and 20.0% after that cap is reached.
The result of these forthcoming changes for manufacturers, including us, may include: i) a material adverse effect on our revenue on drugs subject to “negotiation”; ii) new rebate liability for drugs subject to the inflation provisions, and iii) potential significant additional costs related to the Part D re-design. However, as the degree of impact from this legislation on our business depends on a number of forthcoming implementation actions by regulatory authorities, the full extent of the IRA’s impact on our sales and, in turn, our business, remains unclear.
Federal Agency Discounted Pricing: Our products are subject to discounted pricing when purchased by federal agencies via the FSS. FSS participation is required for our products to be covered and reimbursed by the VA, Department of Defense, Coast Guard and PHS. Coverage under Medicaid, Medicare and the PHS pharmaceutical pricing program is also conditioned upon FSS participation. FSS pricing is intended not to exceed the price that we charge our most-favored non-federal customer for a product. In addition, prices for drugs purchased by the VA, Department of Defense (including drugs purchased by military personnel and dependents through the TriCare retail pharmacy program), Coast Guard and PHS are subject to a cap on pricing equal to 76.0% of the non-federal average manufacturer price (non-FAMP). An additional discount applies if non-FAMP increases more than inflation (measured by the Consumer Price Index - Urban). In addition, if we fail to provide information timely or we are found to have knowingly submitted false information to the government, the governing statute provides for civil monetary penalties.
340B Discounted Pricing: To maintain coverage of our products under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program and Medicare Part B, we are required to extend significant discounts to certain covered entities that purchase products under Section 340B of the PHS pharmaceutical pricing program. Purchasers eligible for discounts include hospitals that serve a disproportionate share of financially needy patients, community health clinics and other entities that receive certain types of grants under the PHS Act. For all of our products, we must agree to charge a price that will not exceed the amount determined under statute (the “ceiling price”) when we sell outpatient drugs to these covered entities. In addition, we may, but are not required to, offer these covered entities a price lower than the 340B ceiling price. The 340B discount formula is based on AMP and is generally similar to the level of rebates calculated under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program.
OUTSIDE THE U.S.
Outside the U.S., our products are paid for by a variety of payors, with governments being the primary source of payment. Governments may determine or influence reimbursement of products and may also set prices or otherwise regulate pricing. Negotiating prices with governmental authorities can delay commercialization of our products. Governments may use a variety of cost-containment measures to control the cost of products, including price cuts, mandatory rebates, value-based pricing and reference pricing (i.e., referencing prices in other countries and using those reference prices to set a price). Budgetary pressures in many countries are continuing to cause governments to consider or implement various cost-containment measures, such as price freezes, increased price cuts and rebates and expanded generic substitution and patient cost-sharing.
REGULATION PERTAINING TO SALES AND MARKETING
We are subject to various federal and state laws pertaining to health care “fraud and abuse,” including anti-kickback laws and false claims laws. Anti-kickback laws generally prohibit a prescription drug manufacturer from soliciting, offering, receiving or paying any remuneration to generate business, including the purchase or prescription of a particular drug. Although the specific provisions of these laws vary, their scope is generally broad and there may be no regulations, guidance or court decisions that clarify how the laws apply to particular industry practices. There is therefore a possibility that our practices might be challenged under anti-kickback or similar laws. False claims laws prohibit anyone from knowingly and willingly presenting, or causing to be presented, for payment to third-party payors (including Medicare and Medicaid), claims for reimbursed drugs or services that are false or fraudulent, claims for items or services not provided as claimed or claims for medically unnecessary items or services. Our activities relating to the sale and marketing of our products may be subject to scrutiny under these laws. Violations of fraud and abuse laws may be punishable by criminal or civil sanctions, including fines and civil monetary penalties, and exclusion from federal health care programs (including Medicare and Medicaid). In the U.S., federal and state authorities are paying increased attention to enforcement of these laws within the pharmaceutical industry and private individuals have been active in alleging violations of the laws and bringing suits on behalf of the government under the federal civil False Claims Act. If we were subject to allegations concerning, or were convicted of violating, these laws, our business could be harmed.
Laws and regulations have been enacted by the federal government and various states to regulate the sales and marketing practices of pharmaceutical manufacturers. The laws and regulations generally limit financial interactions between manufacturers and health care providers or require disclosure to the government and public of such interactions. The laws include federal “sunshine” provisions. The sunshine provisions apply to pharmaceutical manufacturers with products reimbursed under certain government programs and require those manufacturers to disclose annually to the federal government (for re-disclosure to the public) certain payments made to physicians and certain other healthcare practitioners or to teaching hospitals. State laws may also require disclosure of pharmaceutical pricing information and marketing expenditures. Many of these laws and regulations contain ambiguous requirements. Given the lack of clarity in laws and their implementation, our reporting actions could be subject to the penalty provisions of the pertinent federal and state laws and regulations. Outside the U.S., other countries have implemented requirements for disclosure of financial interactions with healthcare providers and additional countries may consider or implement such laws.
OTHER REGULATIONS
FOREIGN ANTI-CORRUPTION
We are subject to various federal and foreign laws that govern our international business practices with respect to payments to government officials. Those laws include the U.S. FCPA, which prohibits U.S. companies and their representatives from paying, offering to pay, promising to pay or authorizing the payment of anything of value to any foreign government official, government staff member, political party or political candidate for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business or to otherwise obtain favorable treatment or influence a person working in an official capacity. In many countries, the health care professionals we regularly interact with may meet the FCPA's definition of a foreign government official. The FCPA also requires public companies to make and keep books and records that accurately and fairly reflect their transactions and to devise and maintain an adequate system of internal accounting controls.
The laws to which we are subject also include the U.K. Bribery Act 2010 (Bribery Act), which proscribes giving and receiving bribes in the public and private sectors, bribing a foreign public official and failing to have adequate procedures to prevent employees and other agents from giving bribes. U.S. companies that conduct business in the U.K. generally will be subject to the Bribery Act. Penalties under the Bribery Act include significant fines for companies and criminal sanctions for corporate officers under certain circumstances.
NIH GUIDELINES
We seek to conduct research at our U.S. facilities in compliance with the current U.S. National Institutes of Health Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant DNA Molecules (NIH Guidelines). By local ordinance, we are required to, among other things, comply with the NIH Guidelines in relation to our facilities in RTP, North Carolina and are required to operate pursuant to certain permits.
OTHER LAWS
Our present and future business has been and will continue to be subject to various other laws and regulations. Various laws, regulations and recommendations relating to data privacy and protection, safe working conditions, laboratory practices, the experimental use of animals and the purchase, storage, movement, import, export and use and disposal of hazardous or potentially hazardous substances, including radioactive compounds and infectious disease agents, used in connection with our research work are or may be applicable to our activities. Certain agreements entered into by us involving exclusive license rights may be subject to national or international antitrust regulatory control, the effect of which cannot be predicted. The extent of government regulation, which might result from future legislation or administrative action, cannot accurately be predicted.
The European Parliament and the Council of the E.U. adopted a comprehensive GDPR in 2016 to replace the current E.U. Data Protection Directive and related country-specific legislation. The GDPR took effect in May 2018 and governs the collection and use of personal data in the E.U. The GDPR, which is wide-ranging in scope, imposes several requirements relating to the consent of the individuals to whom the personal data relates, the information provided to the individuals, the security and confidentiality of the personal data, data breach notification and the use of third-party processors in connection with the processing of the personal data. The GDPR also imposes strict rules on the transfer of personal data out of the E.U. to the U.S., provides an enforcement authority and imposes large penalties for noncompliance, including the potential for fines of up to €20.0 million or 4.0% of the annual global revenue of the infringer, whichever is greater. In addition, several U.S. jurisdictions have similar data privacy laws, such as the California Consumer Privacy Act and California Privacy Rights Act.
MANUFACTURING
We seek to ensure an uninterrupted supply of medicines to patients around the world. To that end, we continually review our manufacturing capacity, capabilities, processes and facilities. We believe that our manufacturing facilities, together with the third-party contract manufacturing organizations we outsource to, currently provide sufficient capacity for our products and to Samsung Bioepis, our collaboration partner that develops, manufactures and markets biosimilar products, and other strategic contract manufacturing partners.
In the fourth quarter of 2021 we began construction of a new gene therapy manufacturing facility in RTP, North Carolina to support our gene therapy pipeline across multiple therapeutic areas. The new manufacturing facility will be approximately 197,000 square feet with an estimated total investment of approximately $195.0 million. As we continue to advance our research and development prioritization efforts, which includes refocusing our investment in gene therapy, we are evaluating several alternative uses for this facility.
MANUFACTURING FACILITIES
Our manufacturing facilities include:
| Facility | Product Manufactured |
|---|---|
| RTP, North Carolina | AVONEXPLEGRIDYTYSABRIQALSODYOther* |
| Solothurn, Switzerland | LEQEMBITYSABRI** |
- Other includes products manufactured for contract manufacturing partners.
** We began manufacturing TYSABRI at the Solothurn manufacturing facility in 2024.
In addition to our drug substance manufacturing facilities, we have a drug product manufacturing facility and supporting infrastructure in RTP, North Carolina, including a parenteral facility and an oral solid dose products manufacturing facility.
The parenteral facility adds capabilities and capacity for filling biologics into vials and is used for filling product candidates. The oral solid dose products facility can supplement our outsourced small molecule manufacturing capabilities.
We also have an oligonucleotide synthesis manufacturing facility in RTP, North Carolina. This facility gives us the capability to manufacture both commercial and clinical ASO's and beginning in 2024 this facility will manufacture SPINRAZA.
In order to support our future growth and drug development pipeline, we built a large-scale biologics manufacturing facility in Solothurn, Switzerland. In the second quarter of 2021 a portion of the facility (the first manufacturing suite) received a GMP multi-product license from the SWISSMEDIC and was placed into service. The second manufacturing suite became operational in January 2024. Solothurn has been approved for the manufacture of ADUHELM and LEQEMBI by the FDA.
Genentech is responsible for all worldwide manufacturing activities for bulk RITUXAN, RITUXAN HYCELA and GAZYVA and has sourced the manufacture of certain bulk RITUXAN, RITUXAN HYCELA and GAZYVA requirements to a third party.
Alkermes currently supplies both VUMERITY and FAMPYRA to us pursuant to separate supply agreements. In October 2019 we entered into a new supply agreement and amended our license and collaboration agreement with Alkermes for VUMERITY. We have elected to initiate a technology transfer and, following a transition period, to manufacture VUMERITY or have VUMERITY manufactured by a third party we have engaged in exchange for paying an increased royalty rate to Alkermes on any portion of future worldwide net commercial sales of VUMERITY that is manufactured by us or our designee. In January 2023 we entered into a new supply agreement with Alkermes for FAMPYRA through January 2025. In December 2023 Alkermes entered into a definitive agreement to sell its development and manufacturing facility to Novo Nordisk, which is expected to close in mid-2024. Alkermes and Novo Nordisk plan to enter into subcontracting arrangements to continue work currently performed at the facility for a period of time after closing the transaction, which may continue through the end of 2025.
THIRD-PARTY SUPPLIERS AND MANUFACTURERS
We principally use third parties to manufacture the active pharmaceutical ingredient and the final product for our small molecule products and product candidates, including TECFIDERA and FUMADERM, and the final drug product for our large molecule products and, to a lesser extent, product candidates.
We source the majority of our fill-finish and all of our final product assembly and storage operations for our products, along with a substantial part of our label and packaging operations, to a concentrated group of third-party contract manufacturing organizations. Raw materials, delivery devices, such as syringes and auto-injectors, and other supplies required for the production of our products and product candidates are procured from various third-party suppliers and manufacturers in quantities adequate to meet our needs. Continuity of supply of such raw materials, devices and supplies is assured through inventory management and dual sourcing as appropriate. Our third-party service providers, suppliers and manufacturers may be subject to routine cGMP inspections by the FDA or comparable agencies in other jurisdictions and undergo assessment and certification by our quality management group. In addition, one of our contract manufacturers for IMRALDI and BENEPALI entered into a proposed acquisition by a third party, which is expected to close at the end of 2024. We are currently evaluating the impact this will have on our biosimilars business.
ESG AND CLIMATE-RELATED MATTERS
INTRODUCTION
We continue to refine our ESG strategy and programs so they are designed to deliver meaningful results in the areas where we believe we can have the greatest impact. We have bolstered our efforts in access and health equity and refocused our Foundation efforts on the communities where we operate. Our environmental strategy is designed to balance impact in line with investment and to drive sustainability into our core operations.
GOVERNANCE
ESG oversight is formally embedded into our Board of Director's corporate governance principles and our Board of Directors annually review our ESG strategy and short-and long-term goals. We regularly review our environmental commitments within the context of our business performance, rising costs and supply chain challenges. We remain committed to engaging employees and suppliers.
As part of our broader commitment to these priorities, we continue to tie a portion of our employees' and executive officers' compensation to advancing our ESG efforts.
We strive to comply in all material respects with applicable laws and regulations concerning the environment. While it is impossible to predict accurately the future costs associated with environmental compliance and potential remediation activities, compliance with environmental laws is not currently expected to require significant capital expenditures and has not had, and is not expected to have, a material adverse effect on our operations or competitive position. Our Executive Committee has responsibility for evaluating the impact of climate change on the business and overseeing actions taken by the company to limit its adverse impact on the environment.
Our ERM framework is designed to ensure climate-related risks and opportunities are integrated into our overall business strategy. Our ERM team monitors strategic climate-related risks across all aspects of our business and utilizes climate scenarios as part of its assessments. The ERM team evaluates identified risks, including any climate-related physical and transitional risks, by engaging leaders across the company.
RISK MANAGEMENT
Addressing ESG matters is part of our long-term global strategy and investment in our future and we have seen increased interest from stakeholders and investors on our ESG practices. While we continue to advance our ESG efforts, there is no certainty that we will manage ESG matters in ways that successfully meet rapidly changing expectations from investors, regulators, third party rankings firms, customers and society as a whole. Our inability to manage ESG matters in accordance with expectations can negatively impact our reputation and business.
CLIMATE RISK MANAGEMENT
We identify climate risk as the risk of loss arising from climate change which comprises both physical risk and transition risk. Physical risk considers how the physical impacts of climate change (e.g., increased frequency and intensity of storms, drought, fires, floods) can directly damage physical assets or otherwise impact their value or productivity. Transition risk considers how changes in policy, regulations, culture, technology, business practices and market preferences to address climate change (e.g., carbon pricing policies, power generation shifts from fossil fuels to renewable energy) can lead to changes in the value of assets and businesses. Disruption in supply chains, changing customer expectations in the biosimilars market and potential shifts in the regulatory environment that disadvantage the use of fossil fuels, PFAS or other materials may make it difficult for us to fulfill business obligations or cause us to incur substantial expense.
Identified climate-related material risks and opportunities are reported to our ERM team, which reports to our Executive Committee and Board of Directors. We consider and address those risks and opportunities that are financially material and may impact our business model, as well as mitigation measures that are in place or need to be adopted.
For additional information on our environment-related risks, please read Item 1A. Risk Factors included in this report.
CALIFORNIA CLIMATE LEGISLATION
In October 2023 California signed into law the CCDAA and the CRFRA. These new environmental disclosure laws will each impose additional climate-related reporting requirements on large companies conducting business in the state of California.
Beginning in 2026 the CCDAA will require companies meeting certain revenue thresholds to publicly disclose Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions for the prior fiscal year. Starting in 2027 companies meeting certain revenue thresholds will also need to publicly disclose Scope 3 GHG emissions for the prior fiscal year. Assurance requirements will also apply to these public disclosures and will be phased-in over time. The CRFRA will require companies meeting certain revenue thresholds to prepare biennial reports disclosing climate-related financial risk, as well as mitigation measures the company has adopted to reduce this risk. The first climate-related financial risk reports are due by January 1, 2026. We expect to be required to comply with both the CCDAA and CRFRA and are actively evaluating the requirements under these acts in order to prepare for compliance. At this time, we expect we may incur additional costs associated with these new laws, including costs associated with implementing or updating existing controls and procedures to collect and maintain required data, as well as costs associated with retaining third-party assurance providers.
HUMAN CAPITAL
As of December 31, 2023, we had approximately 7,570 employees worldwide. Approximately 4,140 employees were employed in the U.S. and approximately 3,430 employees were employed in foreign countries.
DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION
At Biogen, prejudice, racism and intolerance are unacceptable. We are committed to DE&I across all aspects of our organization, including recruitment, hiring, promotion, retention and development practices. As of December 31, 2023, 31.2% of Biogen’s manager-level and above positions were held by ethnic or racial minorities in the U.S. Our policies and practices are global, but the laws in many countries outside the U.S. do not permit us to collect ethnic or racial data on our employees. Globally, 48.6% of Biogen’s positions at director-level and above were held by women as of December 31, 2023.
Our DE&I strategy outlines what we believe to be actionable steps to deepen our commitment across the business, building upon a strong foundation. This plan includes the strategy to build our talent and strengthen our leadership, improve health outcomes for underserved communities in the disease areas we treat and contribute to the communities impacting our employees and patients. We plan to create greater awareness and capability in our organization through leadership accountability and transparency.
We are honored to be recognized as an employer of choice. For the sixth consecutive year, we scored 100% on the Disability:IN's Disability Equality Index, which measures our policies and practices related to disability inclusion. Additionally, for the fourth consecutive year, we were awarded the DI-NC Employer Award by Disability:IN North Carolina for our commitment to champion and invest in disability inclusion at the affiliate and national levels. For the tenth consecutive year, we were recognized as a Best Place to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality by the Human Rights Campaign, scoring 100% on their Corporate Equality Index.
STRENGTHENING OUR GLOBAL COMPETENCY
We are committed to strengthening the DE&I awareness and capability of our employees. We have focused on giving our employees the resources and learning they need to contribute to our strategy. Our people managers are trained on inclusive recruiting and hiring and our global employees are trained on DE&I curriculum.
In 2022 we introduced GlobeSmart®, a tool to enhance cross-cultural collaboration, increase cultural agility and further connect our global teams. Our people leaders have used GlobeSmart®, allowing them to explore different working styles, perspectives and approaches that exist around the globe, getting actionable, personalized advice for better collaboration and teamwork across cultures, and exploring new ways for teams to build trust, strengthen collaboration and leverage diversity.
PHILOSOPHY ON PAY EQUITY
We are committed to providing our employees with equal pay for equal work. We establish components and ranges of compensation based on market and benchmark data. Within this context, we strive to pay all employees equitably within a reasonable range, taking into consideration factors such as role; market data; internal equity; job location; relevant experience; and individual, business unit and company performance. In addition, we are committed to providing flexible benefits designed to allow our diverse global workforce to have reward opportunities that meet their varied needs so that they are inspired to perform their best on behalf of patients and stockholders each day.
We regularly review our compensation practices and analyze the equity of compensation decisions, for individual employees and our workforce as a whole.
We institute measures, such as communications and trainings, to recognize, interrupt and prevent bias in hiring, performance management and compensation decisions and we provide resources to further develop managers and leaders to help them make equitable decisions about pay.
RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION
A business-wide priority is to strengthen our culture and the employee experience. To address a highly dynamic labor market, we have examined our global benefits and seek to provide competitive comprehensive total rewards to our employees. We have also conducted an affordability analysis to benchmark whether our benefits program costs are equitable. We examined employee total rewards across four pillars: physical, financial, emotional and social well-being.
We continue to evolve our programs to meet our employees’ health and wellness needs, which we believe is essential to attract and retain employees of the highest caliber. We have refreshed our flexible working arrangement policies to allow for more flexibility around work hours to help employees balance the demands of their work and home lives, shifted many of our on-site wellness services to virtual, including virtual behavior health, nutrition, fitness and overall well-being classes and counseling, provided financial planning workshops, expanded our caregiver services and provided additional holidays and time off for recharging, voting and volunteering.
SUCCESSION PLANNING
Each year we conduct a talent review across our global enterprise that includes, among other important topics, a review of succession plans for many of our roles. To help ensure the long-term continuity of our business, we actively manage the development of talent to fill the roles that are most critical to the ongoing success of our Company. In addition, each year our Board of Directors reviews the succession plan for our executives.
TALENT AND DEVELOPMENT
Many factors influence employee success and well-being. We work to foster a workplace to allow employees to deliver on our shared mission while helping to mitigate their challenges. From career development to wellness to workplace environment, there are many opportunities to meet employee needs, and to build a workplace where people are empowered to learn, grow and build rewarding careers. Our employees are encouraged to take advantage of an array of professional development resources. Managers are trained to coach employees for performance, and also engage in employee development discussions to support growth and learning.
Opportunities for ongoing learning can contribute to employee related engagement and success. At Biogen, development occurs through on-the-job learning, challenging new assignments, formal training, online learning, mentoring and more. With many employees continuing to work from home, virtual learning plays a key role. Virtual learnings are available through Biogen University as well as LinkedIn Learning. Through Biogen University we offer more than 1,000 instructor-based courses, of which approximately 200 are available virtually. Through LinkedIn Learning we provided employees with access to more than 22,000 on-demand learning modules in 13 languages.
To create and sustain a workplace as diverse and inclusive as the patients we serve, we offer programs that invest in our talent pipeline and in our current leaders, including:
Activate, Reflect and Co-Create: Preparing top talent for the rigors of executive roles.
Women’s Leadership Program: Addressing the unique challenges faced by female leaders to increase influence and impact.
Executive Leadership Retreat: Immersing leaders in topics designed to help them shape culture and build resilience.
The Partnership, Inc's BioDiversity Fellows Program: To continue to bolster our talent pipeline with a diverse mix of leaders, high potential, mid-career, underrepresented minorities participate in this program, which we helped create.
Women on the Rise: Addressing the unique challenges faced by mid-level female leaders to increase influence and impact.
Emerging Leaders: Preparing high-potential individual contributors for first-level leadership roles.
BetterUp: Coaching program available to support individuals as they work toward enhancing their impact in the organization.
Our ERNs provide invaluable opportunities for employees to share knowledge and build connections. Our current ERNs include:
Parenting Network Group: Biogen's newest ERN provides support, networking and development opportunities to working parents and caregivers, as well as helping employees navigate the challenges of work-life balance.
IGNITE: Brings together early-career professionals and their advocates.
AccessAbility: Supports employees with disabilities and employees who are caretakers of individuals with disabilities.
Biogen Veterans Network: Encourages veterans and allies of veterans to connect and support one another.
Mosaic: Fosters awareness and appreciation of different cultural backgrounds, in addition to promoting networking and development opportunities for members.
ReachOUT: Supports a best-in-class working environment for LGBTQ+ employees and embraces all LGBTQ+ employees and their allies.
Women’s Innovation Network: Creates networking, mentoring and learning opportunities for women and allies worldwide.
ourIMPACT: Advances climate, health and equity at work, in employees' personal lives and in the communities where we live and work.
CULTURE AND ENGAGEMENT
We utilize an employee survey program to pulse employees through email and mobile apps as well as provide an opportunity for commentary and facilitate feedback to questions. The survey is designed to empower managers and leaders with anonymous information on their practices related to building culture, performance and an engaged workforce, allowing them to create plans and measure efficacy for continuous improvement. We care deeply about employee feedback and are building an analytics community across Human Resources to bring more rigor and sophistication to the collection and analysis of employee opinions. We use their perspectives to guide us to take actions that improve engagement and support and help maintain our reputation as a great place to work for all our employees.
WORKPLACE HEALTH AND SAFETY
The well-being of our employees is the priority, and we believe every employee plays a role in creating a safe and healthy workplace. Our employees have varied roles and functions, which is why we empower them to promote a safe working environment, regardless of whether work happens in the lab, in an office or in a manufacturing plant. Our policies and practices are intended to protect not only our employees, but also the surrounding communities where we operate.
In 2023 we continued to make significant progress integrating Human Performance into our Environment, Health and Safety programs. We believe that, when it comes to safety, workers are part of the solution. We encourage employees to collaboratively engage in proactive problem solving through practices such as Open Reporting and Work Observation and Risk Conversations. Additionally, our physical safety program focused on detailed evaluations of critical tasks that could expose employees to serious injury or fatality if controls are absent or not used. The actions we implement as a result of these evaluations reduce the risks associated with these essential activities and ensure our operational systems are safer and more resilient for employees. We also use “After Action Reviews” following the completion of a project. These reviews enable us to not only focus on areas for improvement, but also to learn and apply good practices from what goes well. By engaging and empowering our employees through such programs, we believe that we can help change how the entire industry approaches safety performance and risk management.
INFORMATION ABOUT OUR EXECUTIVE OFFICERS (as of February 13, 2024)
| Officer | Current Position | Age | Year Joined Biogen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christopher A. Viehbacher | President, Chief Executive Officer | 63 | 2022 |
| Susan H. Alexander | Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer | 67 | 2006 |
| Michael R. McDonnell | Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer | 60 | 2020 |
| Nicole Murphy | Executive Vice President, Pharmaceutical Operations and Technology | 51 | 2015 |
| Ginger Gregory, Ph.D. | Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer | 56 | 2017 |
| Rachid Izzar | Executive Vice President, Global Product Strategy and Commercialization | 49 | 2019 |
| Priya Singhal, M.D., M.P.H. | Executive Vice President, Head of Development | 56 | 2020 |
| Jane Grogan, Ph.D. | Executive Vice President, Head of Research | 57 | 2023 |
| Adam Keeney, Ph.D. | Executive Vice President, Head of Corporate Development | 47 | 2023 |
| Robin C. Kramer | Senior Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer | 58 | 2018 |
| Christopher A. Viehbacher | |
|---|---|
| Experience | |
| Mr. Viehbacher has served as our President and Chief Executive Officer and member of our Board of Directors since November 2022. Prior to joining Biogen, Mr. Viehbacher served as Managing Partner of Gurnet Point Capital, a Boston based investment fund from 2015 to 2022. Prior to that, Mr. Viehbacher served as Global CEO of Sanofi, from 2008 to 2014. Prior to joining Sanofi, Mr. Viehbacher spent over 20 years with GlaxoSmithKline in Germany, Canada, France and, latterly, the U.S. as president of its North American pharmaceutical division. Mr. Viehbacher began his career with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and qualified as a chartered accountant. Mr. Viehbacher previously served on the board of directors of Vedanta Biosciences, Inc. as chair, BEFORE Brands, Inc., and Crossover Health. He is also a trustee of Northeastern University and a member of the board of fellows at Stanford Medical School. | |
| Education | |
| l | Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, B.A. |
| Susan H. Alexander | |
|---|---|
| Experience | |
| Ms. Alexander has served as our Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer since April 2018. Prior to that, Ms. Alexander served as our Executive Vice President, Chief Legal and Corporate Services from March 2017 to March 2018, as our Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary from December 2011 to March 2017 and as our Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary from 2006 to December 2011. Prior to joining Biogen, Ms. Alexander served as the Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of PAREXEL International Corporation, a biopharmaceutical services company, from 2003 to January 2006. From 2001 to 2003 Ms. Alexander served as General Counsel of IONA Technologies, a software company. From 1995 to 2001 Ms. Alexander served as Counsel at Cabot Corporation, a specialty chemicals and performance materials company. Prior to that, Ms. Alexander was a partner at the law firms of Hinckley, Allen & Snyder and Fine & Ambrogne. | |
| Education | |
| l | Wellesley College, B.A. |
| l | Boston University School of Law, J.D. |
| Michael R. McDonnell | |
|---|---|
| Experience | |
| Mr. McDonnell has served as our Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer since August 2020. Prior to joining Biogen, Mr. McDonnell served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of IQVIA Holdings Inc., a leading global provider of advanced analytics, technology solutions and contract research services to the life sciences industry, from December 2015 until July 2020. Prior to that, Mr. McDonnell served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Intelsat, a leading global provider of satellite services, from November 2008 to December 2015, as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of MCG Capital Corporation, a publicly-held commercial finance company, from September 2004 until October 2008 and as MCG Capital Corporation’s Chief Operating Officer from August 2006 until October 2008. Before joining MCG Capital Corporation, Mr. McDonnell served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for EchoStar Communications Corporation (f/k/a DISH Network Corporation), a direct-to-home satellite television operator, from July 2004 until August 2004 and as its Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer from August 2000 to July 2004. Mr. McDonnell spent 14 years at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, including 4 years as a partner. Mr. McDonnell is a licensed certified public accountant (CPA). | |
| Public Company Boards | |
| l | Merit Medical Systems, Inc. |
| Education | |
| l | Georgetown University, B.S. Accounting |
| Nicole Murphy | |
|---|---|
| Experience | |
| Ms. Murphy has served as our Executive Vice President, Pharmaceutical Operations and Technology since February 2022. Prior to that, Ms. Murphy has held senior executive positions at Biogen, including most recently as our Senior Vice President, Head of Global Manufacturing & Technical Operations, from June 2019 to January 2022. In 2017, Ms. Murphy played a critical role during the successful spin-off of Biogen's hemophilia franchise, as the Vice President and Head of Technical Operations of Bioverativ responsible for clinical and commercial development, quality, regulatory, manufacturing and procurement. Prior to the spin-off Ms. Murphy was the General Manager and Head of Cambridge Site Operations at Biogen from May 2015 to December 2016. Prior to joining Biogen, Ms. Murphy was Executive Director, Head of Supply Chain at Amgen, a biopharmaceutical company, where her responsibilities included leadership of commercial manufacturing and technical operations. Ms. Murphy also held numerous technical and operational roles during her time at Amgen from 2001 to 2015 where she contributed significantly to various facility start-ups, business development integrations, strategic transformations and new product introductions. Prior to Amgen, Ms. Murphy held a variety of process development and engineering positions at Immunex Pharmaceuticals and the Monsanto Company. | |
| Education | |
| l | University of Massachusetts Amherst, B.S. Engineering |
| l | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, M.S. Engineering and a Masters of Business Administration |
| Ginger Gregory, Ph.D. | |
|---|---|
| Experience | |
| Dr. Gregory has served as our Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer since July 2017. Prior to joining Biogen, Dr. Gregory served as Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at Shire PLC, a global specialty biopharmaceutical company, from February 2014 to April 2017. Prior to that, Dr. Gregory held executive-level human resources positions for several multinational companies across a variety of industries, including Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc., a restaurant holding company, where she served as Chief Human Resource Officer, Novartis AG, a pharmaceutical company, where she was the division head of Human Resources for Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, Novartis Consumer Health and Novartis Institutes of BioMedical Research and Novo Nordisk A/S, a pharmaceutical company, where she served as Senior Vice President, Corporate People & Organization at the company’s headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark. Earlier in her career, Dr. Gregory held a variety of human resources generalist and specialist positions at BMS, a pharmaceutical company, and served as a consultant with Booz Allen & Hamilton, an information technology consulting company, in the area of organization change and effectiveness. | |
| Education | |
| l | University of Massachusetts, B.A. Psychology |
| l | The George Washington University, Ph.D. Psychology |
| Rachid Izzar | |
|---|---|
| Experience | |
| Mr. Izzar has served as our Executive Vice President, Head of Global Product Strategy and Commercialization since July 2021. Prior to that Mr. Izzar served as our President for the Intercontinental Region, which includes Latin America, Australia, Asia, Japan, the Middle East and Africa, Turkey and Russia, and the Global Biogen Biosimilars Unit. Prior to joining Biogen, Mr. Izzar was a Country President for AstraZeneca in France, where his responsibilities included leadership for commercial and manufacturing operations. He held numerous roles at his time with AstraZeneca, including the position of Global Vice President of the Cardiovascular Franchise where he contributed significantly to the development of the franchise within the North American subsidiary, as well as in Europe and China. Prior to that, Mr. Izzar was Vice President Strategic Transformation, also, China Portfolio for CEO based in Shanghai and Vice President Commercial International covering China, Australia, Brazil, Russia, America Latin, Asia, Turkey, the Middle East and Africa. | |
| Education | |
| l | University of Sherbrooke, Masters of Business Administration |
| l | Harvard Business School, Enterprise Executive Transformation Program |
| Priya Singhal, M.D., M.P.H. | |
|---|---|
| Experience | |
| Dr. Singhal has served as our Executive Vice President and Head of Development since January 2023. Prior to that Dr. Singhal served as our Interim Head of Research and Development since 2021 in addition to serving as Head of Global Safety and Regulatory Sciences, including China and Japan Research and Development, since rejoining Biogen in 2020. Dr. Singhal was initially at Biogen from 2012 to 2018 and served in positions of increasing seniority as Vice President Clinical Trials Benefit-Risk Management, Global Head of Safety and Benefit Risk Management and as the Interim Co-lead and Senior Vice President of Global Development. Prior to her 2020 return to Biogen, Dr. Singhal served as Head of Research and Development and Manufacturing at Zafgen Inc. from 2019 to 2020. From 2008 to 2012 Dr. Singhal held roles at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, including Vice President, Medical Affairs. Dr. Singhal began her drug-development career at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in 2005 and led benefit-risk management for Velcade and other compounds. | |
| Education | |
| l | Harvard School of Public Health, M.P.H. in International Health |
| l | University of Mumbai, Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) |
| Jane Grogan, Ph.D. | |
|---|---|
| Experience | |
| Dr. Grogan has served as our Executive Vice President and Head of Development since September 2023. Dr. Grogan most recently served as the Chief Scientific Officer at Graphite Bio from 2021 to 2023 and ArsenalBio from 2019 to 2021, both cell and gene therapy companies. From 2004 to 2019 Dr. Grogan held several roles in increasing seniority at Genentech across Immunology and Immuno-oncology, covering research strategies and drug development across Rheumatoid Arthritis, Lupus, MS, Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Cancer. | |
| Education | |
| l | Leiden University, Ph.D. in Immunology |
| l | University of Melbourne, B.Sc in Biochemistry and Pharmacology |
| Adam Keeney, Ph.D. | |
|---|---|
| Experience | |
| Dr. Keeney has served as our Executive Vice President and Head of Corporate Development since April 2023. Dr. Keeney brings more than 20 years of experience leading R&D, business development and strategy organizations at industry-leading companies within biotech and large pharma, Dr. Keeney most recently served as the Chief Executive Officer of NodThera, a clinical stage biotech company focused on chronic inflammation from 2018 to 2022. Prior to NodThera, Dr. Keeney was at Sanofi from 2014 to 2018 where he had responsibility for all of Sanofi Gezyme's business development activities, including early- and late-stage deals across therapeutic areas and modalities, successfully completing several significant transactions. From 2004 to 2013 Dr. Keeney worked at Johnson & Johnson where he held a number of business development roles with increasing responsibility and started his career at Lundbeck as a discovery scientist. | |
| Education | |
| l | University of Nottingham, UK, Ph.D. in Neuropharmacology |
| l | University of Leeds, UK, BSc (Hons) |
| Robin C. Kramer | |
|---|---|
| Experience | |
| Ms. Kramer has served as our Senior Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer since December 2020. Prior to that, Ms. Kramer served as our Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer from November 2018 to December 2020. Prior to joining Biogen, Ms. Kramer served as the Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer of Hertz Global Holdings, Inc., a car rental company, from May 2014 to November 2018. Prior to that, Ms. Kramer was an audit partner at Deloitte & Touche LLP (Deloitte), a professional services firm, from 2007 to 2014, including serving in Deloitte's National Office Accounting Standards and Communications Group from 2007 to 2010. From 2005 to 2007 Ms. Kramer served as Chief Accounting Officer of Fisher Scientific International, Inc., a laboratory supply and biotechnology company, and from 2004 to 2005 Ms. Kramer served as Director, External Reporting, Accounting and Control for the Gillette Company, a personal care company. Ms. Kramer also held partner positions in the public accounting firms of Ernst & Young LLP and Arthur Andersen LLP. Ms. Kramer is a licensed CPA in Massachusetts. She is a member of the Massachusetts Society of CPAs and the American Institute of CPAs. Ms. Kramer currently serves on the board of directors of the Center for Women and Enterprise. Ms. Kramer previously served as a Board Member for the Massachusetts State Board of Accountancy from September 2011 to December 2015 and Probus Insurance Company Europe DAC from 2016 to 2018. | |
| Public Company Boards | |
| l | Armata Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biotechnology company |
| Education | |
| l | Salem State University, B.B.A. Accounting |
AVAILABLE INFORMATION
Our principal executive offices are located at 225 Binney Street, Cambridge, MA 02142 and our telephone number is (617) 679-2000. Our website address is www.biogen.com. We make available free of charge through the Investors section of our website our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and all amendments to those reports as soon as reasonably practicable after such material is electronically filed with or furnished to the SEC. We include our website address in this report only as an inactive textual reference and do not intend it to be an active link to our website. The contents of our website are not incorporated into this report.
USE OF WEBSITE TO PROVIDE INFORMATION
From time to time, we have used, and expect in the future to use, our website as a means of disclosing material information to the public in a broad, non-exclusionary manner, including for purposes of the SEC’s Regulation Fair Disclosure (Reg FD). Financial and other material information regarding the Company is routinely posted on our website and accessible at www.biogen.com. In order to receive notifications regarding new postings to our website, investors are encouraged to enroll on our website to receive automatic email alerts. None of the information on our website is incorporated into this report.
The text of this filing, as the company filed it with the SEC, without its images or exhibits. This is not investment advice.