BioCentury
ARTICLE | Strategy

Biogen Idec's Agenda

New CEO must revive Biogen Idec's commercial performance, streamline its R&D

July 12, 2010 7:00 AM UTC

Of all the first generation big cap biotechs, Biogen Idec Inc. has always been known as the stodgy one. Ironically, it has taken the intervention of activist investors - generally thought of as green eyeshade wearers with a singular focus on the short-term bottom line - to finally bring in a quintessential biotech CEO with the kind of R&D background that is still at the heart of what biotech is all about.

At the end of June, the company announced it was hiring George Scangos as CEO. Scangos, who had been president and CEO of Exelixis Inc. since 1996, is a microbiologist by training. He was previously president of Bayer Biotechnology...