The CEO of Biogen Inc, Michel Vounatsos will resign from the company as it slims down its workforce, cuts spending by $1 billion annually, and attempts to chart a new course after Medicare refused to cover its new Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm.
Biogen has said that Mr. Vounatsos will continue to lead the company and remain on its board until a new CEO is appointed. By reducing Aduhelm's sales force and other cost-cutting measures, Biogen is expected to save $500 million annually, with a company's total cost savings target of $1 billion.
Vounatsos said in an investor call that this leaves the company with "minimal resources" to manage existing patient access programs. But that doesn't mean that Biogen is ready to give up on Aduhelm altogether. The company will continue to fund an ongoing re-administration study of Aduhelm and, more importantly, a future confirmatory study called ENVISION.
Without proper compensation, Aduhelm's first-quarter revenue was only $2.8 million. Biogen also recorded approximately $275 million from Aduhelm inventory valuation loss.