Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Chris Schott : Thanks so much. Just another one on BD. Is this something you’re going to be looking to do in parallel with your strategic review and cost resizing efforts? Or is this a bit of a longer-term priority once you make whatever changes are necessary for the core business? And maybe just a second part of that same question. Given your prior comments of the narrow focus of Biogen, does that point more towards BD is skewed towards either company acquisitions versus partnerships or earlier-stage deals because it seems like you might want to be bringing both products as well as kind of expertise in-house? Just help me a little bit in terms of like the — how you think about that dynamic? Thank you.

Chris Viehbacher : I think certainly for the first half of this year, we’re focused on really reorienting the company towards these growth opportunities, looking at the cost base — we should have a new Head of Research in that timeframe. We’re also in the process of recruiting a Head of BD. So, to me, this is sort of something that we start to look at in the second half of the year. As you know, it takes a while to go find things. You’ve got to look at a lot of things before you do something. So even if you decide you want to do something next year, you really have to start looking now. In terms of what we’re looking at? Look, it could be all of the above. To the degree that we get comfortable with the launch trajectory of LEQEMBI and zuranolone, you could argue that the bankers like to refer to this desperation factor.

I would argue that we don’t have a high desperation factor. We actually have a lot that we can do within the company. I think it’s healthy to be looking outside and to always have options because in this business, nothing ever goes completely to plan. But we have the time to look and make sure that whatever we do is going to be value-added, and I think it could be all of the things that you’ve mentioned.

Mike Hencke : Okay. With that, I think we’re going to conclude the call for today. Thank you, everyone, for joining us.

Operator: This concludes today’s call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.