Board members and senior executives are bailing out of Biogen but will there be enough life vests? What has/is happening at Biogen is a train wreck, and the only way to correct this disaster is to tear it down and rebuild the company from the top down.

According to Endpoint News”

We’ve seen Biogen’s CSO exit under pressure in recent weeks, and senior marketing execs leave in an exodus as the company recoiled from a fierce backlash against the FDA’s ultra controversial approval of Aduhelm for Alzheimer’s. Now two longtime board members are on the way out as well as aftershocks continue to rattle the big biotech, with all the customary handshakes and congratulatory notes you might expect.”

On top of this, “the company also revealed that the Federal Trade Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission had opened two new, separate investigations into the troubled biotech. The FTC, an antitrust regulator, has requested documents related to a civil investigative demand, similar to a subpoena, on the marketing and approval of the Alzheimer’s drug.”

To me, an enormous warning flag went up when the VP of Market Access was on a call with the commercial organization (sales). At 99% of pharma companies, that’s a huge no-no. There usually is an unbreakable firewall between commercial and Market Acess/Reimbursement.

So, where does Biogen go from here?

Their primary goal has to be to reestablish trust with health care professionals. The only way to do this is by changing the current executive management with people who know the industry and have sterling reputations.

Once a new management team is installed, they have the enormous job of rebuilding employee morale. It won’t be easy, but it has to be done with a clear and articulate vision of where the company needs to go.

Finally, they need to withdraw Aduhelm from the market. The data suggests this drug doesn’t work, and it’s not with the money, even at half-price. If they decide to continue with clinical trials, a neutral, independent third party needs to review the data. Still, at some point, someone has to see that continuing with this product is akin to burning money.

Biogen used to be known as an innovative Biotech company; now, their brand is associated with misinformation and desperation. Even if they market a new drug with good data, will HCPs listen? That’s not a good place to be…