Boston Business Journal

Biogen Announces New CEO

Biogen Inc. has finally announced a new CEO, six months after Michel Vounatsos said he would be stepping down.

Christopher Viehbacher, a longtime executive at GSK plc and former CEO of Sanofi ADR, will take the corner office at the Cambridge biotech. He will start on Nov. 14.

“It is both an honor and an exciting opportunity to join the Biogen team. I greatly admire Biogen for its determination and resilience in pioneering important new medicines to address some of the most difficult and challenging conditions in healthcare," Viehbacher said in a statement. "I am inspired by Biogen’s mission and untapped potential and look forward to working with the dedicated Biogen team to build an even stronger company for the benefit of patients, stakeholders and investors.”

Viehbacher is also the co-founder of Gurnet Point Capital, a Cambridge-based health care investment firm involved with companies including Radius Health, which it took private earlier this year, and cancer detection firm Naveris.

At Biogen, Viehbacher will be tasked with finding new streams of revenue — and quickly. The company is faced with stiff and increasing competition from biosimilars and generics, which have already cut into some of its core franchises. The launch of its first Alzheimer's disease drug, Aduhelm, was meant to offset those declines, but it was beset by controversy, leading to a disastrous rollout and ultimately vanishingly few sales.

More on this story from Boston Business Journal

Copyright Boston Business Journal
Contact Us