Ebb & Flow

An unspoken sub-theme on Biogen's earnings call last week was that investors shouldn't judge its newly launched Amevive alefacept for psoriasis based on its $4 million in first quarter sales. Since launching Amevive on Feb. 1, the company has focused on taking care of patient reimbursement, and is pitching a strong product ramp-up in the second quarter.

Reimbursement has progressed ahead of schedule, according to the company, with more 800 doctors putting 2,500 patients into the reimbursement process. BGEN said 90% of the patients who have completed the process have received coverage. ...