Biogen Buys Time For Leqembi Ramp-Up With Reata Acquisition

Only days after announcing a plan to reduce expenses by $1bn, Biogen, Inc. reeled in the third-largest biopharma M&A deal of 2023, agreeing to pay $7.3bn on 28 July for Reata Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and its recently approved Friedrich’s ataxia (FA) drug Skyclarys (omaveloxolone). Biogen CEO Christopher Viehbacher, focused on returning the company to sustained growth, said it became “increasingly clear that Biogen would be the natural owner for Skyclarys,” a projected blockbuster and the only approved drug for FA.

Biogen, which has posted revenue declines three years in a row due to generic competition to Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate) and the flop of Alzheimer’s disease drug Aduhelm (aducanumab), is focusing...