The Heart of Biogen Idec

Just what is biotech titan Biogen Idec really about?We are a science-based business,according to CEO George Scangos,PhD.Making science-based decisions is the best thing we can do for our patients and shareholders.The company is a leading maker of multiple sclerosis therapies such as the established MS treatment Tysabri.Our new MS drug is oral;the first generation drug was injectable.Novartis also has an oral MS drug. There's a lot of innovation going on in the neurodegenerative field.There is a Phase III trial on an ALS drug-a drug for Lou Gehrig's disease.There are earlier programs on Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.You need to find out what type of neurodegenerative disease they have in order to treat them,and more advanced imagery is helping that. Biogen has one of the most robust late stage pipelines.All of the research is associated with protein folding and plaques,understanding the pathology.There's huge potential.I'm very excited about the potential to treat these poor patients with better drugs in the next couple of years,Dr.Scangos said. Biogen Idec is based in Weston,Massachusetts. Biogen Idec(BIIB),Novartis(NVS)