What were they thinking? Biogen’s board in the spotlight

Documents released by two House committees shed light on critical questions associated with the Aduhelm debacle, including what was the company’s rationale for pricing the drug at $55,000 per year; was the biotech’s board of directors in the loop for pricing decisions; and why was it launched with a broad indication that included patients who were highly unlikely to benefit from the drug?

Presentations Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) made to its board show that the company’s management had convinced itself, and apparently its board, that it had developed a tremendously effective drug for which it deserved, and Medicare would agree to pay, tens of billions of dollars. There is no indication in the documents released by Congress that the company had any idea that the medical community would view Aduhelm aducanumab-avwa as anything other than a breakthrough or that CMS would balk at allocating a third of its spending on physician-administered drugs for a single therapy. ...