Biogen

Discussion in 'Alnylam Pharmaceuticals' started by anonymous, Mar 12, 2020 at 7:29 PM.

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  1. anonymous

    anonymous Guest

    Top Biogen execs were present at meeting where attendees had Covid-19

    MARCH 6, 2020
    At least eight coronavirus cases are linked to a recent meeting of Biogen's executive leadership at a Boston hotel.
    Biogen’s CEO, chief financial officer, and head of research and development were among those at a corporate meeting last week attended by eight people who later tested positive for the novel coronavirus, and the company said it has taken aggressive steps to prevent other employees from falling ill.

    The executives — Michel Vounatsos, Jeff Capello, and Alfred Sandrock — attended the annual meeting, according to people familiar with the matter. Biogen on Friday confirmed their attendance at the meeting.

    The company said the individuals known to have COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, are currently “doing well, improving and under the care of their healthcare providers.” It added, “Protecting our employees and our communities is our priority.”

    All of the approximately 175 meeting attendees, with or without flu-like symptoms, have been directed to work from home for two weeks. The company said it was asking all “office-based Biogen employees and contractors” in Massachusetts, Research Triangle Park, N.C., and Baar, Switzerland, to work from home until further notice, and “restricting travel” through the end of the month.

    In a statement Friday night, Biogen said meeting attendees who are symptomatic would be contacted by public health authorities to be tested, if they haven’t already, and “must quarantine themselves.” They also have been asked to stay isolated from family members or others they live with, “and these close contacts must also be quarantined until further notice,” the statement said.

    Attendees without symptoms also have been asked to quarantine themselves until further notice and have the people they live with work from home.

    “We recognize that this is a difficult situation for our colleagues and their loved ones,” the statement said.

    Biogen, based in Cambridge, Mass., is one of the first biotechnology companies ever founded. It has about 7,800 employees and annual sales of $14 billion, thanks to treatments for multiple sclerosis and spinal muscular atrophy, a rare neurological disease. A drug it has been developing for Alzheimer’s is one of the most-watched, and controversial, medicines in development.

    The meeting, held Feb. 26-27 at a Marriott hotel in Boston, has so far been linked with eight cases of Covid-19 overall, five of them in Massachusetts, according to the Boston Globe, making it among the larger U.S. coronavirus clusters reported to date. The meeting was an annual gathering of executives at the vice president level or higher to discuss the company’s strategy.

    On Friday, health officials were in the process of testing people who attended the gathering. Many had traveled to Boston for the event from outside Massachusetts, including Europe.

    Vounatsos and other Biogen executives attended a health care investor conference in downtown Boston sponsored by the investment bank Cowen on Monday, March 2, just days after Biogen’s senior leadership meeting. Biogen has been in contact with Cowen about the potential coronavirus exposure, a Cowen representative confirmed to STAT.

    The Cowen representative said the company was told by Biogen that none of the Biogen executives present, including Vounatsos, have been diagnosed with Covid-19.

    According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, transmission from asymptomatic people is not thought to be the main way the novel coronavirus spreads.
     

  2. anonymous

    anonymous Guest

    UPDATED: With meeting case count rising above 70, Biogen tells attendees to prep for quarantine, isolate from loved ones
    by
    Eric Sagonowsky |
    Mar 9, 2020 12:28pm

    A February Biogen meeting in Boston is linked to at least 23 cases of the novel coronavirus. (Getty Images)

    As of Tuesday, 70 cases in Massachusetts itself were tied to the meeting, the Massachusetts Department of Health reports. That’s out of 92 confirmed or presumptive cases in the state.

    Two others have cropped up in Indiana. Another Biogen employee from Pennsylvania traveled to Palm Beach, Florida, for the Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis conference and later tested positive for COVID-19. The person worked the Biogen booth at the meeting, according to WPTV, but it's not clear whether the employee also attended the Boston gathering.

    In North Carolina, authorities have outlined 5 more presumptive cases, all Biogen meeting attendees, WLOS reports. A child of one attendee in Boston has also tested positive, according to the Boston Globe.

    One of the management meeting attendees who later tested positive participated in the Cowen & Co. investment conference, held in Boston on the heels of the Biogen management confab, the company told Endpoints. Cowen said it was in touch with public health authorities to make sure "appropriate parties are tested."

    In a report late Tuesday, The Boston Globe laid out some behind-the-scenes details of the situation. Following the meeting, on March 3, some executives who attended and felt ill sought testing at Massachusetts General Hospital or their doctors but were turned away, according to the Globe report. That’s because federal testing guidelines at the time stated that only those with symptoms, plus travel to affected areas, were eligible for tests.

    Biogen itself reached out to Massachusetts health authorities to report about 50 attendees with flu-like symptoms but still couldn’t secure tests, the Globe reports.

    Ahead of the meeting, there wasn’t a discussion about cancelling, at least as far as one spokesman had heard. He told the Globe that “at the time of the meeting, we were absolutely following national guidance on travel and in-person meetings.”

    Now, Biogen has instructed meeting attendees that they’ll be contacted by authorities for testing. They must quarantine themselves and not come in contact with family, loved ones or roommates for the time being. Those people must also quarantine themselves.

    Biogen has instructed employees and contractors in Massachusetts, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina and Baar, Switzerland to work from home “until further notice.”

    A Biogen spokeswoman said the company recognizes “that this is a difficult situation for our colleagues and their loved ones.”

    “We are actively working with all relevant departments of public health and hospitals to prioritize the well-being of the people who may have been exposed to COVID-19,” she added.

    Takeda, which has 5,000 employees in Massachusetts, has instructed most of its staff in the state to work from home as well, WCTV reports. Those who can’t, such as lab scientists, are encouraged to keep a distance from one another and limit meetings to under 10 people.

    Biogen and Takeda aren’t alone, of course. Many of the biopharma industry’s top companies are cracking down on travel and encouraging employees to work from home amid the global outbreak.

    Amgen is suspending international business travel and medical conference attendance until April 17. GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi, Roche, Bristol Myers Squibb, Mylan and others are taking steps to prevent the spread of infections, as well.

    The moves come as the novel coronavirus outbreak enters a more global phase. As of Sunday, the World Health Organization reported 105,586 cases worldwide, with 80,859 of those in China. There were 3,610 new cases outside of China in the last 24 hours, and the outbreak has made its way to 101 countries.

    As of Monday in the U.S., officials have diagnosed more than 500 cases, with 22 deaths linked to the outbreak, according to the New York Times.

    Editor's note: This story was updated with Monday and Tuesday developments in Massachusetts and North Carolina.
     
  3. anonymous

    anonymous Guest

    Marriott Long Wharf to close as fallout over Biogen coronavirus contamination continues
    Erin Tiernan

    The Marriott Long Wharf Hotel — the four-star waterfront venue that hosted the notorious Biogen conference that has fueled a Massachusetts outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic — abruptly closed Thursday “in the interest of public health,” according to a statement.

    In a letter to guests on Thursday, the hotel operator said the decision comes in consultation with the Boston Public Health Commission, and as a reaction to “new information,” though what that information is exactly, remains unclear.

    “We appreciate and support the efforts of our public health authorities as they continue their important work to mitigate potential spread of the novel coronavirus. The safety and well-being of our guests is of paramount importance to us,” Marriott said in a statement shared with the Herald.

    The Boston Public Health Commission also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    A Feb. 26-27 meeting of about 175 managers from the Cambridge biotech company Biogen has been linked to a growing number of COVID-19 cases in Massachusetts and beyond, according to department of public health data. Employees from Italy were in attendance at a time when the country was beginning to see the disease spread, a company spokesman told the Herald earlier this week.

    The Biogen conference has been linked to 77 of Massachusetts’ 95 presumptive cases of coronavirus so far, according to the latest DPH data available.

    A case in Tennessee, two in Indiana and another in Florida are also linked to the Biogen meeting. Another five COVID-19 cases in North Carolina are also being traced back to the strategy session, according to public health officials monitoring the spread.

    The Biogen group also held a dinner at the State Room, a fine-dining venue on the 33rd floor of 60 State St. overlooking Faneuil Hall. Longwood Events, which operates the restaurant, could not immediately be reached for comment on Thursday.
     
  4. anonymous

    anonymous Guest

    How the Biogen leadership conference in Boston spread the coronavirus

    BY MARK ARSENAULT THE BOSTON GLOBE
    MARCH 11, 2020 02:28 PM
    It opened with breakfast, at 7 a.m., in the Harbor View Ballroom of the Boston Marriott Long Wharf hotel, where a wide bank of windows offers a sublime view across the inner harbor, steel gray on a cloudy morning, to Logan Airport in the distance.

    They greeted each other enthusiastically, with handshakes and hugs, and then caught up over breakfast, picking from plates of pastries and the self-serve hot food bar. They were there for two days of discussions and presentations about the future of the Cambridge-based, multinational biotech firm, which develops therapies for neurological diseases. It was the kind of under-the-radar gathering that happens in this region just about every week.

    Within days, though, the Biogen conference would be infamous, identified as an epicenter of the Massachusetts outbreak of COVID-19, with 70 of 92 coronavirus infections in the state linked to the conference as of Tuesday night, including employees and those who came into contact with them.

    That doesn’t include a cascade of individual cases in Tennessee, Indiana, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., and Norway, and suspected cases in Germany, Austria, and Argentina. Five Biogen employees from Wake County attended the conference and have tested positive.

    The virus raced through this two-day conference at a frightening speed that state health officials and company executives were unable to match. As one of the biggest and best- known biotech firms in Massachusetts and public health authorities in one of the nation’s premier medical communities struggled to connect the dots, dozens of Biogen employees were developing symptoms of the dangerous disease — even as they traveled around Boston, the country, and the world.

    Concerns about holding large gatherings were already circulating locally at least a week before the Biogen conference. Massachusetts had detected its first coronavirus case on Feb. 1 — a man in his 20s who had flown back from Wuhan, China, where the virus was widespread. On Feb. 19, the Japanese tech company Sony announced that due to concern about infections it would skip the annual PAX East gaming expo at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, Feb. 27- March 1.

    Biogen spokesman David Caouette said he is unaware of any internal discussions about canceling the Biogen conference due to the global spread of the virus.

    “At the time of the meeting, we were absolutely following national guidance on travel and in-person meetings,” Caouette said in a statement.

    Guests at the Long Wharf conference included people from Italy, a country where the virus had spread, but not people who had been to China, where it originated late last year, he said.

    After a day of highly technical presentations on Wednesday, Feb. 26, many of the Biogen attendees gathered at 6:30 p.m. at the State Room, a few blocks away at 60 State St., for dinner and awards.

    The conference picked up Thursday morning and went half a day, concluding in the afternoon, when attendees headed for the airport or home.
     
  5. anonymous

    anonymous Guest

    TESTS WERE HARD TO GET

    By Saturday night, signs of trouble were emerging. One Biogen executive reported feeling sick, and planned to seek treatment at Massachusetts General Hospital in the morning, according to a person familiar with the company. That executive was told on Sunday that a coronavirus test was not warranted under existing criteria, the executive told colleagues on Sunday.

    On Monday, another Biogen employee from the conference attended a Naples, Fla., executive round-table, held by the consulting giant PwC. According to Biogen, that employee had flu-like symptoms while at the Florida event. Biogen would not say whether that person has since tested positive ― it declines to discuss individual cases. But PwC said in a statement that it is taking the potential interaction very seriously, informing “all participants who attended our PwC event that one of the participants was in proximity to individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19.”

    Biogen chief medical officer Maha Radhakrishnan on Monday sent a message to people who attended the Boston conference advising them to see a doctor if they felt ill.

    By Tuesday morning, March 3, more executives who had been at the Boston conference were not feeling well, according to the person with knowledge of the company, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the situation. Some of them had gone to MGH or to their doctors to request coronavirus testing, only to be rebuffed because they did not meet the federal government criteria for a test, which at the time was a set of symptoms in addition to recent travel to a breakout area or contact with someone known to have the virus.

    Biogen officials reached out to public health authorities in Massachusetts on March 3, according to a document obtained by the Globe, to report a cluster of about 50 conference attendees with flu-like symptoms in this region and overseas. Those officials were told that the cases did not satisfy requirements for testing.

    Massachusetts Public Health Commissioner Dr. Monica Bharel said in a Tuesday news conference that she is unable to pinpoint exactly when her department learned that people who attended the Biogen conference were ill with COVID-19, and when the agency acted to test others who attended the conference or were in contact with those attendees.

    All the days are “blurring together,” Bharel said.

    PUBLIC HEALTH DEPARTMENT ALERTED
    Another person familiar with the events, who asked to remain anonymous because they are not cleared to speak on the issue, confirmed that Biogen’s chief medical officer first contacted the state public health department the morning of March 3. Biogen told DPH that day that a cluster of people who attended the conference were ill, according to the unnamed person.

    Biogen called the DPH again the next day, March 4, according to the person familiar with these events, and alerted DPH that at least two people from Europe who were at the conference had tested positive for COVID-19.

    That same day, a “significant number” of people from Biogen — though still fewer than 10 — came to the Emergency Department at MGH asking for coronavirus tests, said Dr. Paul Biddinger, chief of the division of emergency preparedness at the hospital.

    MGH had not been informed previously of the Biogen meeting or that people had been exposed to the virus.

    “There was concern that there may be many more coming,” Biddinger said. Too many Biogen walk-ins, the hospital feared, could disrupt care for other patients.

    All the Biogen people got a medical evaluation but many did not have symptoms that would rise to an emergency; they just wanted testing, Biddinger said.

    “For each person, we talked to [Department of Public Health] staff about these patients and whether or not they meet testing criteria,” he said. “Some were tested and some were not.”

    Some of the Biogen walk-ins became “very frustrated” that they couldn’t get a test. “There were some challenging discussions,” Biddinger said.

    At 10 a.m. on March 5, senior Biogen leadership held a call with people who were at the Boston conference, reporting that three attendees had tested positive for COVID-19 outside of Massachusetts.

    NOTE SENT TO ALL BIOGEN EMPLOYEES
    Several hours later, Biogen executive vice president Alphonse Galdes and Radhakrishnan sent out a message to people across the company describing the illnesses associated with the conference:

    “We wanted to inform you that an unexpected high number of attendees have reported varying degrees of flu-like symptoms (fever, headache, cough, body ache, chills, general fatigue, and malaise being among the most common symptoms reported),” the message said. It added that three attendees had tested positive for COVID-19.

    The message said the company could not identify the people who had tested positive, but that out of caution, Biogen wanted everyone who was at the conference to work from home.

    That information alarmed some employees, who were concerned about having been exposed to the illness in the days prior to the announcement, and were surprised that the company didn’t give employees a better handle on the situation sooner.

    Two people familiar with the company said a number of employees got up and left after reading the e-mail, with many of them heading straight to MGH to request a test.

    In an e-mail from the company Thursday evening, Biogen officials asked employees to refrain from going to MGH to be tested for the coronavirus. The e-mail said their efforts “are overwhelming the emergency room” and that hospital police may have to bar Biogen employees from entering the area.

    Biogen acknowledged for the first time on Thursday night that the coronavirus had been spread at its meeting the week before. By Friday, MGH and Brigham and Women’s set up temporary testing facilities in their ambulance bays to handle an influx of potential patients.

    The outbreak at Biogen rippled through the state’s close-knit biopharma industry, which employs about 74,000 people and is marbled with Biogen alumni.

    Several of the Biogen executives from the Long Wharf conference also attended a health care event hosted by Cowen and Co. March 2-4, at the Boston Marriott Copley Place, including CEO Michel Vounatsos and other top officials.

    Cowen has since warned attendees of its event that Biogen informed Cowen that multiple individuals at the March 2 event have tested positive for COVID-19.

    Cowen spokesman Dan Gagnier directed inquiries to Biogen.

    Caouette, the Biogen spokesman, said in a statement that the company could not discuss the specifics of the cases, but he confirmed that multiple people from Biogen “who were at the March 2 Cowen investment conference in Boston” have tested positive.

    “Several of our colleagues are doing well and others are fighting this novel virus and in isolation from their families. Knowing they are in pain, hurts each of us,” Vounatsos wrote in an e-mail to staff on Monday.

    “I am grateful for the courage our team has shown in this challenging time, working late into the night and in constant communication with public health partners. In particular, I want to thank our medical team for providing their expertise to support our employee’s safety and well-being.”
     
  6. anonymous

    anonymous Guest

    At the Asylum, we only care for what’s in the best interest of the patient and our people. That is why, unlike other companies, we have decided to continue to have our teams remain in the field. We feel this is the best way to protect them and believe any decision we make is right, no matter the consequences.
     
  7. anonymous

    anonymous Guest

    You are an asshole. You are lying. You are posting false information. You are the sickness in our company. We were given a choice. We were given tools to communicate virtually. Some of us, many of us are working to help our docs and their patients who still need help regardless of Covid-19. Please quit. Posting your lies during this almost impossible situation is repulsive.
     
  8. anonymous

    anonymous Guest

    hATTR takes years to progress and Onpattro would take a long time to make a difference, oh and it’s not approved for cardiomyopathy. Is there really an “urgent” need that can’t wait the 2-4 weeks all other companies mandated?

    Giving a choice puts pressure on a team to take unnecessary risks.
     
  9. anonymous

    anonymous Guest

    You are too stupid to get it. Read slowly.....the choice was to work virtually. No one has to see any HCPs. No one.
     
  10. anonymous

    anonymous Guest

    JG. My man. You dont have to respond to every less than flattering post on our site, you know. They're baiting you, and you keep responding. Not very smart. If they're spreading lies, they'll be exposed. BUT, if theres a kernel of truth....I guess then WE will be exposed. Either way, a pissing battle on this site makes us look like the Alnylam Asylum moniker is deserved.

    Dismissed, Sailor!
     
  11. anonymous

    anonymous Guest

    I completely agree with this sentiment. I came here in the expansion. My old company is just giving up I want to be at a company that doesn’t give up but also respects the situation we’re in. It was obvious to me that our leaders get it and I’m proud I made the choice to come here. Easy for me to say because I’m home studying anyway but I got the vibe that if I didn’t feel comfortable shadowing someone in the coming weeks it wasn’t going to happen. And I suspect we’ll be shut down shortly anyway. So why be negative? We make way too much money and have such amazing products to sell. Lots of people would give everything to be in your shoes.
     
  12. anonymous

    anonymous Guest

    In the face of an unprecedented situation like COVID-19, true leadership would take the path that was the safest course for our teams and patients. Saying "you don't have" to call on HCPs is not leadership, its a way to demonstrate greed. Especially in a company with a clear history of retaliation against people who are not robots.
     
  13. anonymous

    anonymous Guest

    There is absolutely nothing wrong with treating people like adults and asking them to make the bast decision for them and their families. I applaud any company that is not automatically telling people to stay home. It is an individual decision on how people decide to work in this environment. Personally, I am comfortable meeting my physicians for coffee to have discussions. I am doing my best to stay out of offices and asking people to meet one on one and its being very well received. Those that are complaining are just looking for a free meal ticket and a reason to sit on their ass doing nothing.
     
  14. anonymous

    anonymous Guest

    shut up rep
     
  15. anonymous

    anonymous Guest

    You are a dumb ass. Stay home and protect your family's health. NO JOB is worth the risk.