Biogen replacing CEO following Alzheimer’s flop

Biogen will replace its CEO and largely abandon marketing of its controversial Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm less than a year after the medication’s launch triggered a backlash from experts, doctors and insurers.

CEO Michel Vounatsos will continue to lead Biogen until a successor is found, the company announced. Vounatsos joined the company in 2016 and was the chief architect of Biogen’s strategy built around Aduhelm.

For now, Biogen said it is “substantially eliminating” spending on Aduhelm as part of a $1 billion dollar cost-saving plan designed to refocus the company’s flagging biotech business.

The announcement represents a stark acknowledgement that the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company has failed to find a market for a drug that was expected to drive its business for years.