Biogen to Spin Off Hemophilia Business into New Public Company Bioverativ

Biogen Announces Spin-off of Subsidiary Focused on Developing Drugs for Blood Disorders. The New Company, Named Bioverativ, Is Expected to Begin Trading on the Nasdaq in Early 2017.

Its business includes the commercialization of the hemophilia drugs Eloctate and Alprolix in collaboration with Sweden’s Orphan Biovitrum (SOBI), gene therapy programs for patients with hemophilia A and B, research projects on non-factor bispecific antibodies and immune tolerance induction for hemophilia A, as well as research into sickle cell disease.

“Spinning off this continuously growing business to align with our key hemophilia drug development program was the right decision,” said George Scangos, CEO of Biogen, during the company’s July earnings conference call.

He further added, “This business is performing well, with Eloctate and Alprolix generating $200 million in revenue in the second quarter. Alprolix has also been approved by the European Union for the treatment of hemophilia B and will be commercialized in the EU through a collaboration with Sobi.”

Bioverativ has appointed John Cox, former Executive Vice President of Biogen’s Pharmaceutical Marketing and Technology division, as its Chief Executive Officer. In a statement, he said, “The new company’s name reflects Biogen’s heritage and its connection to biotechnology.” Biogen first announced plans to establish this new subsidiary in May of this year.

The new company will use drug revenues to continuously support R&D for hematologic diseases. It aims to develop long-acting therapies based on its XTEN technology and apply them in clinical treatment in the first half of 2017. In addition, it will accelerate the development of bispecific antibody and hemophilia-related gene therapy projects.

Bioverative also plans to conduct clinical trials of Eloctate to accelerate the development of inhibitors for immune tolerance in hemophilia patients.