Biogen

Biogen Inc. is an American multinational biotechnology company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, specializing in the discovery, development, and delivery of therapies for the treatment of neurological diseases to patients worldwide. Biogen was founded in 1978 in Geneva as Biotechnology Geneva by several prominent biologists, including Kenneth Murray from the University of Edinburgh, Phillip Allen Sharp from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Walter Gilbert from Harvard University (Gilbert served as CEO during the start-up phase of Biogen), Heinz Schaller from the University of Heidelberg, and Charles Weissmann from the University of Zurich (Weissmann contributed the first product interferon alpha). Gilbert and Sharp were subsequently honored with Nobel Prizes: Gilbert was recognized in 1980 with the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his understanding of DNA sequencing and Sharp received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1993 for his discovery of split genes. In 2003, Biogen merged with San Diego, California-based IDEC Pharmaceuticals (formed in 1985 by University of California-San Diego's physicians and immunologists Ivor Royston and Robert E. Sobol, San Diego bio entrepreneur Howard Birndorf, and Stanford University cancer researchers Ron Levy and Richard Miller) and adopted the name Biogen Idec. After the merger, Biogen Idec became the 3rd largest Biotechnology company in the world. Following shifts in research core areas, the company has since shortened its name, reverting to simply Biogen. Biogen stock is a component of several stock indices such as the S&P 500, S&P 1500, and NASDAQ-100 and the company is listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the ticker symbol, BIIB. In May 2006, the company announced it would acquire cancer specialist, Conforma Therapeutics for $250 million. Later in the same month, the company announced its intention to acquire Fumapharm AG, consolidating ownership of Fumaderm and BG-12, an oral fumarate, which was being studied for the treatment of multiple sclerosis and psoriasis.