Biogen Idec CEO to retire

Written byAlla Katsnelson

| 1 min read

Cambridge-based biotech Biogen Idec, the maker of the multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri, linkurl:announced;http://investor.biogenidec.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=148682&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1370474&highlight=] yesterday that its president and CEO, James Mullen, will retire in June. The search is on for a new head. Mullen rose through the ranks at Biogen after coming on as director of facilities and engineering in 1989. He became head of Biogen in 2000, and kept that post when Biogen merged with San Diego based Idec in 2003. The tech and business journal linkurl:Xconomy writes:;http://www.xconomy.com/boston/2010/01/04/biogen-idec-ceo-jim-mullen-stepping-down-after-tumultuous-year-of-shareholder-activism/ "Mullen presided over a period in which Biogen emerged as the world's largest maker of multiple sclerosis drugs and one of the biotech industry?s leading companies. But it has recently come under fire from billionaire investor Carl Icahn for failing to deliver investment returns on par with its biotech peers, and for its inability to introduce any new marketed products since natalizumab (Tysabri) was approved by the FDA in November 2004." Reports say Mullen's departure plans are unrelated to the company's tussles with Icahn over the past few years. In 2008, Icahan made a failed attempt at gaining control of the company and last year managed to land two directors on the company's board of directors. The company has also continued to struggle with linkurl:safety concerns;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/55285/ about Tysabri, which was pulled from the market from 2005 and reintroduced in 2006 with stricter safety warnings.
**__Related stories:__***linkurl:MS drug sickens patient...again;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/55285/
[16th December 2008]*linkurl:The urge to merge;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/15748/
[26th September 2005]*linkurl:When bad news strikes;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/14931/
[13th September 2004]

Biogen Idec CEO to retire

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