Biogen Idec hires Johns as VP of new ALS unit

Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) hired Donald Johns as VP of the company's new innovation hub focused on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Johns was VP and global head of neuroscience translational medicine at Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR), part of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS; SIX:NOVN).

Last year, Biogen Idec paid Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ISIS) $100 million up front in an antisense discovery and development deal focused on neurological diseases, including ALS. Biogen is also investing in basic science and is working with academics to identify pathways, mechanisms and molecules involved in axonal degeneration of motor neurons in ALS patients (see SciBX: Science Business eXchange, Oct. 3, 2013). ...