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Biogen names Christopher Viehbacher to CEO post

By Brian Buntz | November 10, 2022

Biogen in the Drug Discovery & Development Pharma 50In May, Biogen (Nasdaq:BIIB) CEO Michel Vounatsos announced his resignation following a precipitous decline in its share price after failing to achieve material sales of its Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm (aducanumab). Roughly half a year later, Biogen has installed the German-Canadian executive Christopher Viehbacher to lead the company.

Viehbacher will assume the role of president, CEO and board member starting on November 14.

The new CEO has a diverse background. In 2015, he co-founded the Cambridge, Massachusetts–based investment firm Gurnet Point Capital. The investment firm has supported Radius Health and the oncology company Naveris.

Viehbacher is also a board member of Crossover Health and Before Brands, and is the board chair at Vedanta Biosciences and PureTech Health.

Christopher A. Viehbacher

Christopher A. Viehbacher

He was the CEO of Sanofi (Nasdaq:SNY) from 2008 to 2014. In that time frame, the company’s share price grew considerably as Viehbacher worked to transform the French company into more of an international Big Pharma. The Sanofi board, however, fired him in 2014.

Before Sanofi, he worked at GlaxoSmithKline for two decades. Viehbacher began his career as a certified public accountant working for PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

Viehbacher was won the Légion d’Honneur from France.

After announcing the news, Biogen’s stock was up 3.02% in afternoon trading to $290.84.

In a statement, Biogen’s board chair Stelios Papadopoulos noted that Viehbacher has “a keen understanding of the complexities involved in running a multibillion-dollar global pharma business as well as a deep appreciation for the value of innovation.”

Papadopoulos attributed those traits as pivotal in helping “turn around Sanofi and leave behind a much better company compared to the one he inherited.”

Biogen has faced a string of challenges in recent years related to Aduhelm, which it believed would be a blockbuster drug.

In the third-quarter results of 2022, the company’s finances exceeded the expectations of Wall Street analysts, increasing its full-year guidance. The company generated $2.5 billion in that quarter, more than tripling its bottom line. Its top line, however, was down 10% compared with Q3 2021.


Filed Under: Neurological Disease
Tagged With: Christopher Viehbacher
 

About The Author

Brian Buntz

As the pharma and biotech editor at WTWH Media, Brian has almost two decades of experience in B2B media, with a focus on healthcare and technology. While he has long maintained a keen interest in AI, more recently Brian has made making data analysis a central focus, and is exploring tools ranging from NLP and clustering to predictive analytics.

Throughout his 18-year tenure, Brian has covered an array of life science topics, including clinical trials, medical devices, and drug discovery and development. Prior to WTWH, he held the title of content director at Informa, where he focused on topics such as connected devices, cybersecurity, AI and Industry 4.0. A dedicated decade at UBM saw Brian providing in-depth coverage of the medical device sector. Engage with Brian on LinkedIn or drop him an email at bbuntz@wtwhmedia.com.

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