Episode 38: Biogen

Biogen is one of the most influential and controversial companies in modern biotechnology. Founded in the late 1970s by Nobel-level scientists who believed recombinant DNA would redefine medicine, Biogen helped turn neurology into a commercial field long before most pharma companies dared to enter it.

In this episode, we trace Biogen’s full journey, from its academic origins and the rise of interferon therapies for multiple sclerosis, to blockbuster drugs like Avonex and Tysabri. We explore the diseases Biogen chose to fight, why the company doubled down on neurology, and how its scientific culture shaped both its breakthroughs and its blind spots.

We then examine Biogen’s high-stakes pivot into Alzheimer’s disease, the controversy surrounding Aduhelm, and the cautious redemption attempt with Leqembi. Along the way, we highlight the people who built Biogen, the alumni who went on to shape the biotech industry, and the hard lessons learned when science, regulation, and patient hope collide.

This is a story about ambition, uncertainty, and what it really takes to develop medicines when the biology refuses to cooperate.

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Chapters

• 1:16 Founders, Ideology, and the Birth of Biogen (1978–1985)
• 4:55 Interferons, the IPO, and Biogen’s First Proof Point (1985–1997)
• 9:17 Neurology Deepens (1997–2010)
• 11:49 Why Alzheimer’s; The Strategic Pivot (2010–2021)
• 15:44 Leqembi and the Attempt at Redemption (2022–Present)
• 18:04 Alumni and the Biogen Diaspora
• 18:59 Lessons From Biogen
• 21:01 What’s Next for Biogen?

Transcript

Hello and welcome to Petri Dish Perspectives, the podcast where we geek out about science and the companies shaping the future of healthcare. I’m your host, Manead, and I’m a PhD scientist by training, biotech storyteller by choice. With every new episode released on Thursday, my goal is to deliver digestible pieces of information on healthcare companies under 30 mins. 

Some companies are built to move fast. Others are built to move carefully. Biogen was built to do something harder: turn the deepest questions in biology into real medicines, even when the answers were uncertain and the timelines stretched for decades. From its origins in the late 1970s, founded by Nobel-level scientists who believed recombinant DNA would change the world, Biogen has operated at the edge of what medicine knows and what it hopes to achieve. It became a pioneer in treating multiple sclerosis, helped define modern neurology as a commercial field, and later made one of the most controversial bets in pharmaceutical history by going all in on Alzheimer’s disease. In this episode, we’re telling the full story of Biogen. It’s a story about how science advances in the real world, and what happens when ambition collides with uncertainty.

Quick disclaimer, I give full credit to the original articles cited in the references in the transcript!

Grab a coffee or tea, settle in, and let’s jump in!

Segment 1: Founders, Ideology, and the Birth of Biogen (1978–1985)

Biogen was not founded like most biotech companies that followed it. It was not built around a single molecule or a near-term commercial goal. It was founded as an experiment in whether molecular biology itself could become an industry. In 1978, a group of elite scientists came together in Geneva with a shared belief that recombinant DNA would fundamentally change medicine.

Among them was Walter Gilbert, a Harvard professor who would later win the Nobel Prize for developing DNA sequencing methods that made modern genomics possible. Gilbert was not just a scientist but a visionary who believed biology would become an information science. Phillip Sharp, another founder, would go on to win a Nobel Prize for discovering RNA splicing, a finding that reshaped understanding of how genes work. Other early contributors included Charles Weissmann, a pioneer in interferon biology, and Heinz Schaller, a leader in molecular virology.

These founders deliberately positioned Biogen at the intersection of academia and industry. They chose Europe initially to emphasize international collaboration, distancing themselves from the more commercially aggressive tone of early Silicon Valley biotech. From the beginning, Biogen’s culture emphasized publication-quality science, long timelines, and intellectual rigor. This made early years financially precarious but scientifically rich.

Biogen struggled in its first decade, burning capital while building know-how. But it accumulated something more valuable than early revenue: expertise in protein engineering, immunology, and large-scale biologics manufacturing. This scientific infrastructure would become the foundation for everything that followed.

Segment 2: Interferons, the IPO, and Biogen’s First Proof Point (1985–1997)

Interferons were among the first biologic drugs ever explored, and they became Biogen’s proving ground. Interferons are naturally occurring signaling proteins used by the immune system to regulate inflammation and antiviral responses. In diseases like multiple sclerosis, the immune system mistakenly attacks the central nervous system, leading to progressive disability. Interferon beta works by modulating immune activity, reducing inflammatory attacks on nerve fibers.

This glimpse of success allowed Biogen to go public in 1991 with each stock at $2.81, with its IPO providing the capital needed to scale manufacturing, expand clinical development, and professionalize operations. The IPO era marked Biogen’s transition from a science-driven startup to a publicly accountable pharmaceutical company. 

Biogen’s development of Avonex marked another turning point. Approved in 1996, Avonex became one of the first disease-modifying therapies for multiple sclerosis. While it did not cure the disease, it slowed progression and reduced relapse rates, changing the standard of care. For patients, this meant years of preserved mobility and function. For Biogen, it meant legitimacy. Avonex revenues fueled reinvestment into neurology and allowed Biogen to withstand the volatility that still characterized biotech markets.

Importantly, Avonex also defined Biogen’s identity. The company became synonymous with serious neurological disease, a space avoided by many pharmaceutical companies due to complexity and long development cycles. Biogen leaned in, believing that deep biological understanding could yield durable franchises.

Segment 3: Neurology Deepens — Understanding the Diseases (1997–2010)

As Biogen expanded, it focused on diseases where the immune system and nervous system intersected. Multiple sclerosis remained central, but the company broadened its approach with therapies like Tysabri, a monoclonal antibody that blocks immune cells from crossing the blood-brain barrier.

Multiple sclerosis is a chronic autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks myelin, the protective sheath around nerve fibers. This leads to symptoms ranging from fatigue and numbness to blindness and paralysis. Tysabri dramatically reduced relapse rates, making it one of the most effective MS drugs ever developed.

However, by suppressing immune surveillance in the brain, Tysabri increased the risk of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, a rare but often fatal brain infection. The drug’s temporary withdrawal in 2005 forced Biogen to confront the ethical and clinical realities of treating severe neurological diseases. Patients wanted access. Regulators demanded safeguards. Biogen responded by implementing some of the most sophisticated risk management programs in pharma.

This era cemented Biogen’s reputation as a company willing to tackle devastating diseases where the margin for error was small but the potential benefit enormous.

Segment 4: Why Alzheimer’s — The Strategic Pivot (2010–2021)

By the early 2010s, Biogen faced a strategic dilemma. Multiple sclerosis was becoming crowded, competition was increasing, and long-term growth required a new frontier. Alzheimer’s disease represented both the greatest unmet medical need and the greatest scientific risk in neurology.

Alzheimer’s affects tens of millions globally, with no disease-modifying treatments for decades. The amyloid hypothesis, which suggests that accumulation of amyloid beta plaques drives neurodegeneration, had dominated research despite repeated clinical failures. Biogen believed those failures reflected trial design and timing rather than a flawed hypothesis.

The pivot to Alzheimer’s was driven by science, but also by necessity. Success would redefine Biogen as the most important neurology company in the world. Failure would be costly but survivable, thanks to MS revenues. Aduhelm embodied this gamble. When the FDA granted accelerated approval in 2021, Biogen found itself at the center of a global debate about evidence, regulatory standards, and desperation for treatment. Aduhelm received accelerated FDA approval in 2021, despite mixed trial results, focusing on amyloid plaque removal but with serious side effects like brain swelling (ARIA). Due to negligible sales, limited insurance coverage, and controversy, Biogen abandoned marketing Aduhelm in early 2024, returning rights to the originator, Neurimmune, and shifting focus to other Alzheimer's treatments like Leqembi, marking an end to a turbulent chapter for the company.

The backlash was severe. Advisory committee resignations, payer refusals, and public skepticism damaged Biogen’s credibility. What had been intended as a triumphant reinvention became a moment of reckoning.

Segment 5: Leqembi and the Attempt at Redemption (2022–Present)

Leqembi, developed in partnership with Eisai, represented a second chance. Unlike Aduhelm, Leqembi showed clearer clinical benefit in slowing cognitive decline in early Alzheimer’s patients. The effect size was modest, but measurable and statistically significant.

Leqembi received traditional FDA approval, marking the first Alzheimer’s therapy to do so based on confirmatory data. Medicare coverage followed under specific conditions, restoring some confidence among clinicians and investors. While safety concerns such as brain swelling remained, they were better characterized and managed.

For Biogen, Leqembi was not a blockbuster miracle, but it was something more important: proof that disciplined science and regulatory alignment could still move Alzheimer’s forward. It helped stabilize the company and reposition Biogen as a serious, if humbled, leader in neurodegeneration.

Segment 6: Alumni and the Biogen Diaspora

Biogen’s influence extends far beyond its own pipeline. Over decades, it has produced a generation of biotech leaders who went on to shape the industry. Former executives and scientists have founded or led companies like Alnylam, Sage Therapeutics, Denali Therapeutics, and Bluebird Bio.

John Maraganore, though not a Biogen executive, drew inspiration from its RNA roots when leading Alnylam. Many former Biogen scientists carried forward its emphasis on rigorous biology into RNA therapeutics, gene therapy, and precision neurology. This alumni network reflects Biogen’s role as a training ground for complex drug development.

Segment 7: Lessons From Biogen

Biogen teaches that scientific excellence is necessary but not sufficient. Regulatory trust matters. Clinical humility matters. Patient expectations must be respected as much as investor timelines. The company’s story also shows that failure at scale is different from failure at startup size. The stakes are higher, and so is the scrutiny.

Most of all, Biogen illustrates that in neuroscience, progress is incremental, controversial, and deeply human.

By the time the episode was recorded, Biogen’s stock was at $169.90 which is an insane jump from ~$3 back in the 80s and their market cap is at $24.92B. Biogen's main headquarters are in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with an international HQ in Baar, Switzerland, and they had approximately 7,605 employees globally as of late 2024/early 2025, reflecting a slight increase from the prior year.

Segment 8: What’s Next for Biogen

Looking ahead, Biogen is repositioning itself as a focused neuroscience company with selective diversification. It continues to invest in Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease, depression, lupus, and rare neurological disorders. The company employs thousands of people globally, with major operations in the United States and Europe.

Biogen’s future will likely be defined not by bold moonshots alone, but by execution, partnerships, and rebuilding trust. Whether it becomes a steady neuroscience specialist or reclaims its role as a disruptive pioneer remains an open question.

But one thing is certain: Biogen will continue to operate where biology is hardest, stakes are highest, and certainty is rare.

Outro

Biogen’s story doesn’t resolve neatly, and that may be its most honest lesson. Unlike many industries, biotechnology does not reward confidence alone. It rewards patience, humility, and the willingness to be wrong in public.

From multiple sclerosis to Alzheimer’s disease, Biogen has spent decades working on illnesses where progress is slow, failure is visible, and patients cannot afford false hope. The company has experienced scientific breakthroughs, regulatory backlash, and reputational damage, yet it continues to operate in the hardest corners of medicine.

What Biogen ultimately represents is not a single drug or decision, but a philosophy: that even imperfect advances matter when the alternative is doing nothing. Its future will be shaped by how well it balances innovation with credibility, speed with rigor, and ambition with responsibility.

And in an industry defined by uncertainty, that balance may be the most difficult challenge of all.

This has been Petri Dish Perspectives. I’m Manead. Thanks for listening.

References

1. www.wikipedia.org
2. https://www.biogen.com/ 
3. www.finance.yahoo.com
4. https://endpoints.news/ 

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