Biogen pays $80M to buddy up on PhIII ALS program

Biogen Idec is buddying up to Knopp Neurosciences with $80 million in cash and up to $245 million more in various milestones for marketing rights to a promising, late-stage ALS drug. Biogen will invest $60 million in the Pittsburgh, PA-based developer while providing another $20 million as an upfront for the company. The object of Biogen's desire is KNS-760704, an experimental therapy for Lou Gehrig's disease which hit its primary endpoint in a Phase II clinical trial. Knopp says that the...

Vernalis Parkinson’s drug sinks on tox issues

Vernalis and partner Biogen Idec have halted development of the drug vipadenant (V2006/BIIB014), an A2A receptor antagonist program in development for the treatment of Parkinson's. Though the drug turned in positive results in a Phase II study, a review of findings in preclinical toxicology studies raised the possibility of side effects. Vernalis and Biogen say they will refocus on an earlier-stage A2A pathway candidate, and plan to move that drug into Phase I studies next...

Sanofi’s rumored buyout plans inspire guessing game

The scuttlebutt from Bloomberg late last week about Sanofi-Aventis' interest in acquiring an unidentified drug developer in the pricey neighborhood of $20 billion has triggered a fevered new game of name-the-target. For its part, the Wall Street Journal's Michael Corkery ran a slate of five potential developers that fit the general profile: Genzyme ($13 billion market cap); Biogen Idec ($13 billion); Celgene ($23 billion); Gilead Sciences and Amgen. With a market cap of $50 billion,...

Scangos promises R&D action as he takes the reins at Biogen

Biogen Idec has officially confirmed the news that George Scangos (photo) will move from the CEO's post at Exelixis to become CEO of Biogen. And the 62-year-old Scangos wasted no time before promising analysts that he would bring some R&D discipline to Biogen Idec, which has been roiled as top execs fought a losing battle against Wall Street raider Carl Icahn. "At Exelixis, we were able to create a culture with a sense of urgency, a lack of bureaucracy, and great productivity-but with...

Sources: In surprise pick, Exelixis’ Scangos named CEO of Biogen Idec

Both Bloomberg and Reuters are reporting this morning that George Scangos will leave Exelixis to take over the helm at Biogen Idec. Quoting sources, the news wires report that the veteran biotech exec has been tapped to replace James Mullen, who left the company after a long and bruising fight with Wall Street raider Carl Icahn. The appointment puts a scientist in the CEO's post at Biogen Idec. Scangos got his biology degree at Cornell. The news of Scangos' appointment to the helm of the big...

Biogen board promises to name a new CEO soon

With Biogen Idec CEO James Mullen (photo) headed off into retirement this week, the board of directors says that they're just weeks away from tapping his successor. And with Carl Icahn at the corporate gates calling for heads to roll, they added that COO Robert Hamm will be a step behind him as he retires at the end of the year. Mullen and the entire executive group in charge of running Biogen Idec, one of the biggest biotechs in the world, have been treated to a barrage of criticism from...

Aveo gets $5M payment from Biogen Idec

AVEO Pharmaceuticals has received a $5 million milestone payment from Biogen Idec, triggered by Biogen's selection of the first humanized antibody development candidate from its ErbB3 program. In March 2009, Biogen and Aveo signed a deal for the development and commercialization of AVEO's discovery-stage ErbB3-targeted antibodies for cancer and other diseases outside. Aveo retained full control of the program in North America....