Biogen IDEC Changes Name,But Gets Downgrade Anyway

Biogen has dropped the IDEC from its name as of today,Monday 23 March,and is getting a new logo as well.It added IDEC when it merged with IDEC Pharmaceuticals 12 years ago.*
Today we are a new company,distinct from either parent,and we hope to not only carry on our heritage of excellence,but to forge new ground,said CEO Dr.George Scangos.0ur name is intended to acknowledge our heritage,but also to create a new image to reflect our new reality.*
The Cambridge,Massachusetts-based firm has a market cap of around 112 billion dollars and a staff of 7550.Last week the company announced a successful early stage trial for a drug that slows the progression of early stage Alzheimer's disease.A third of the patients with a gene that makes them susceptible to developing Alzheimer's had to discontinue the treatment because of brain swelling,however.Still,Biogen is going directly to a late stage trial,aiming to have the drug on the market by 2020.It has been estimated the new drug,BIIB037,could bring in more than 10 billion dollars at peak revenue.
Biogen is already known for its effective multiple sclerosis therapies,but now aims to find a cure for the ailment,and even for ALS,or Lou Gehrig's disease.It sees itself as a neurodegenerative disease specialist.
Biogen is also working on a number of biofamiliar drugs,the equivalent of generics for off-patent biotech drugs.It is seeking European approval for biofamiliars it ha developed for Amgen's Enbrel and Johnson and Johnson's Remicade,both of which are rheumatoid arthritis treatments.
Biogen stock was downgraded by Stiefel Financial from buy to hold on concern that it is overvalued because definitive data for the Alzheimer's drug will not be in before 2018.Citi maintained its buy rating on the firm,and Barclays maintained its overweight on the company,although Biogen's price targets have already been exceeded.The expensive stock was going for 469.71 this morning,down 1.34%.*
Biogen (BIIB),iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB)

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)