ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
Risks Related to Our Business
We are substantially dependent on revenue from our products.
Our revenue depends upon continued sales of our products as well as the financial rights we have in our anti-CD20 therapeutic programs. A significant portion of our revenue is concentrated on sales of our products in increasingly competitive markets. Any of the following negative developments relating to any of our products or any of our anti-CD20 therapeutic programs may adversely affect our revenue and results of operations or could cause a decline in our stock price:
•the introduction, greater acceptance or more favorable reimbursement of competing products, including new originator therapies, generics, prodrugs and biosimilars of existing products and products approved under abbreviated regulatory pathways;
•safety or efficacy issues;
•limitations and additional pressures on product pricing or price increases, including those resulting from governmental or regulatory requirements; increased competition, including from generic or biosimilar versions of our products; or changes in, or implementation of, reimbursement policies and practices of payors and other third-parties;
•adverse legal, administrative, regulatory or legislative developments;
•our ability to maintain a positive reputation among patients, healthcare providers and others, which may be impacted by our pricing and reimbursement decisions; or
•the inability or reluctance of patients to receive a diagnosis, prescription or administration of our products or a decision to prescribe and administer competitive therapies as a direct or indirect result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
LEQEMBI is in the early stages of commercial launch in the U.S. In addition to risks associated with new product launches and the other factors described in these Risk Factors, Biogen’s and Eisai’s ability to successfully commercialize LEQEMBI may be adversely affected due to:
•Eisai’s ability to obtain and maintain adequate reimbursement for LEQEMBI;
•the effectiveness of Eisai's and Biogen’s commercial strategy for marketing LEQEMBI; and
•Eisai’s and Biogen’s ability to maintain a positive reputation among patients, healthcare providers and others in the Alzheimer’s disease community, which may be impacted by pricing and reimbursement decisions relating to LEQEMBI, which are made by Eisai.
The FDA may withdraw approval if Eisai and Biogen fail to comply with the conditions of the accelerated approval.
Our long-term success depends upon the successful development of new products and additional indications for our existing products.
Our long-term success will depend upon the successful development of new products from our research and development activities or our licenses or acquisitions from third-parties, as well as additional indications for our existing products.
Product development is very expensive and involves a high degree of uncertainty and risk and may not be successful. Only a small number of research and development programs result in the commercialization of a product. It is difficult to predict the success and the time and cost of product development of novel approaches for the treatment of diseases. The development of novel approaches for the treatment of diseases, including development efforts in new modalities such as those based on the antisense oligonucleotide platform and gene therapy, may present additional challenges and risks, including obtaining approval from regulatory authorities that have limited experience with the development of such therapies.
Clinical trial data are subject to differing interpretations and even if we view data as sufficient to support the safety, effectiveness and/or approval of an investigational therapy, regulatory authorities may disagree and may require additional data, limit the scope of the approval or deny approval altogether. Furthermore, the approval of a product candidate by one regulatory agency does not mean that other regulatory agencies will also approve such product candidate.
28
Table of Contents
Success in preclinical work or early-stage clinical trials does not ensure that later stage or larger scale clinical trials will be successful. Clinical trials may indicate that our product candidates lack efficacy, have harmful side effects, result in unexpected adverse events or raise other concerns that may significantly reduce the likelihood of regulatory approval. This may result in terminated programs, significant restrictions on use and safety warnings in an approved label, adverse placement within the treatment paradigm or significant reduction in the commercial potential of the product candidate.
Even if we could successfully develop new products or indications, we may make a strategic decision to discontinue development of a product candidate or indication if, for example, we believe commercialization will be difficult relative to the standard of care or we prefer to pursue other opportunities in our pipeline.
Sales of new products or products with additional indications may not meet investor expectations.
If we fail to compete effectively, our business and market position would suffer.
The biopharmaceutical industry and the markets in which we operate are intensely competitive. We compete in the marketing and sale of our products, the development of new products and processes, the acquisition of rights to new products with commercial potential and the hiring and retention of personnel. We compete with biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies that have a greater number of products on the market and in the product pipeline, substantially greater financial, marketing, research and development and other resources and other technological or competitive advantages.
Our products continue to face increasing competition from the introduction of new originator therapies, generics, prodrugs and biosimilars of existing products and products approved under abbreviated regulatory pathways. Some of these products are likely to be sold at substantially lower prices than our branded products. The introduction of such products as well as other lower-priced competing products has reduced, and may in the future, significantly reduce both the price that we are able to charge for our products and the volume of products we sell, which will negatively impact our revenue. For instance, demand and price for TECFIDERA declined significantly as a result of multiple TECFIDERA generic entrants entering the U.S. market in 2020. In addition, in some markets, when a generic or biosimilar version of one of our products is commercialized, it may be automatically substituted for our product and significantly reduce our revenue in a short period of time.
Our ability to compete, maintain and grow our business may also be adversely affected due to a number of factors, including:
•the introduction of other products, including products that may be more efficacious, safer, less expensive or more convenient alternatives to our products, including our own products and products of our collaborators;
•the off-label use by physicians of therapies indicated for other conditions to treat patients;
•patient dynamics, including the size of the patient population and our ability to identify, attract and maintain new and current patients to our therapies;
•the reluctance of physicians to prescribe, and patients to use, our products without additional data on the efficacy and safety of such products;
•damage to physician and patient confidence in any of our products, generic or biosimilars of our products or any other product from the same class as one of our products, or to our sales and reputation as a result of label changes, pricing and reimbursement decisions or adverse experiences or events that may occur with patients treated with our products or generic or biosimilars of our products;
•inability to obtain appropriate pricing and adequate reimbursement for our products compared to our competitors in key international markets; or
•our ability to obtain and maintain patent, data or market exclusivity for our products.
Our business may be adversely affected if we do not successfully execute or realize the anticipated benefits of our strategic and growth initiatives.
The successful execution of our strategic and growth initiatives may depend upon internal development projects, commercial initiatives and external opportunities, which may include the acquisition and in-licensing of products, technologies and companies or the entry into strategic alliances and collaborations.
While we believe we have a number of promising programs in our pipeline, failure or delay of internal development projects to advance or difficulties in executing on our commercial initiatives could impact our current and future growth, resulting in additional reliance on external development opportunities for growth.
29
Table of Contents
Supporting the further development of our existing products and potential new products in our pipeline will require significant capital expenditures and management resources, including investments in research and development, sales and marketing, manufacturing capabilities and other areas of our business. We have made, and may continue to make, significant operating and capital expenditures for potential new products prior to regulatory approval with no assurance that such investment will be recouped, which may adversely affect our financial condition, business and operations.
The availability of high quality, fairly valued external product development is limited and the opportunity for their acquisition is highly competitive. As such, we are not certain that we will be able to identify suitable candidates for acquisition or if we will be able to reach agreement.
We may fail to initiate or complete transactions for many reasons, including failure to obtain regulatory or other approvals as well as disputes or litigation. Furthermore, we may not be able to achieve the full strategic and financial benefits expected to result from transactions, or the benefits may be delayed or not occur at all. We may also face additional costs or liabilities in completed transactions that were not contemplated prior to completion.
Any failure in the execution of a transaction, in the integration of an acquired asset or business or in achieving expected synergies could result in slower growth, higher than expected costs, the recording of asset impairment charges and other actions which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Sales of our products depend, to a significant extent, on adequate coverage, pricing and reimbursement from third-party payors, which are subject to increasing and intense pressure from political, social, competitive and other sources. Our inability to obtain and maintain adequate coverage, or a reduction in pricing or reimbursement, could have an adverse effect on our business, reputation, revenue and results of operations.
Sales of our products depend, to a significant extent, on adequate coverage, pricing and reimbursement from third-party payors. When a new pharmaceutical product is approved, the availability of government and private reimbursement for that product may be uncertain, as is the pricing and amount for which that product will be reimbursed.
Pricing and reimbursement for our products may be adversely affected by a number of factors, including:
•changes in, and implementation of, federal, state or foreign government regulations or private third-party payors’ reimbursement policies;
•pressure by employers on private health insurance plans to reduce costs;
•consolidation and increasing assertiveness of payors seeking price discounts or rebates in connection with the placement of our products on their formularies and, in some cases, the imposition of restrictions on access or coverage of particular drugs or pricing determined based on perceived value;
•our ability to receive reimbursement for our products or our ability to receive comparable reimbursement to that of competing products; and
•our value-based contracting program pursuant to which we aim to tie the pricing of our products to their clinical values by either aligning price to patient outcomes or adjusting price for patients who discontinue therapy for any reason, including efficacy or tolerability concerns.
Our ability to set the price for our products varies significantly from country to country and, as a result, so can the price of our products. Governments may use a variety of cost-containment measures to control the cost of products, including price cuts, mandatory rebates, value-based pricing and reference pricing (i.e., referencing prices in other countries and using those reference prices to set a price). Drug prices are under significant scrutiny in the markets in which our products are prescribed; for example the IRA has certain provisions related to drug pricing. We expect drug pricing and other health care costs to continue to be subject to intense political and societal pressures on a global basis. Certain countries set prices by reference to the prices in other countries where our products are marketed. Our inability to obtain and maintain adequate prices in a particular country may not only limit the revenue from our products within that country but may also adversely affect our ability to secure acceptable prices in existing and potential new markets, which may limit market growth. This may create the opportunity for third-party cross-border trade or influence our decision to sell or not to sell a product, thus adversely affecting our geographic expansion plans and revenue. Additionally and in part due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, in certain jurisdictions governmental health agencies may adjust, retroactively and/or prospectively, reimbursement rates for our products.
Competition from current and future competitors may negatively impact our ability to maintain pricing and our market share. New products marketed by our competitors could cause our revenue to decrease due to potential price
30
Table of Contents
reductions and lower sales volumes. Additionally, the introduction of generic or biosimilar versions of our products, follow-on products, prodrugs or products approved under abbreviated regulatory pathways may significantly reduce the price that we are able to charge for our products and the volume of products we sell.
Many payors continue to adopt benefit plan changes that shift a greater portion of prescription costs to patients, including more limited benefit plan designs, higher patient co-pay or co-insurance obligations and limitations on patients' use of commercial manufacturer co-pay payment assistance programs (including through co-pay accumulator adjustment or maximization programs). Significant consolidation in the health insurance industry has resulted in a few large insurers and pharmacy benefit managers exerting greater pressure in pricing and usage negotiations with drug manufacturers, significantly increasing discounts and rebates required of manufacturers and limiting patient access and usage. Further consolidation among insurers, pharmacy benefit managers and other payors would increase the negotiating leverage such entities have over us and other drug manufacturers. Additional discounts, rebates, coverage or plan changes, restrictions or exclusions as described above could have a material adverse effect on sales of our affected products.
Our failure to obtain or maintain adequate coverage, pricing or reimbursement for our products could have an adverse effect on our business, reputation, revenue and results of operations.
We depend on relationships with collaborators and other third-parties for revenue, and for the development, regulatory approval, commercialization and marketing of certain of our products and product candidates, which are outside of our full control.
We rely on a number of collaborative and other third-party relationships for revenue and the development, regulatory approval, commercialization and marketing of certain of our products and product candidates. We also outsource certain aspects of our regulatory affairs and clinical development relating to our products and product candidates to third-parties. Reliance on third-parties subjects us to a number of risks, including:
•we may be unable to control the resources our collaborators or third-parties devote to our programs, products or product candidates;
•disputes may arise under an agreement, including with respect to the achievement and payment of milestones, payment of development or commercial costs, ownership of rights to technology developed, and the underlying agreement may fail to provide us with significant protection or may fail to be effectively enforced if the collaborators or third-parties fail to perform;
•the interests of our collaborators or third-parties may not always be aligned with our interests, and such parties may not pursue regulatory approvals or market a product in the same manner or to the same extent that we would, which could adversely affect our revenue, or may adopt tax strategies that could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition;
•third-party relationships require the parties to cooperate, and failure to do so effectively could adversely affect product sales or the clinical development or regulatory approvals of product candidates under joint control, could result in termination of the research, development or commercialization of product candidates or could result in litigation or arbitration;
•any failure on the part of our collaborators or third-parties to comply with applicable laws, including tax laws, regulatory requirements and/or applicable contractual obligations or to fulfill any responsibilities they may have to protect and enforce any intellectual property rights underlying our products could have an adverse effect on our revenue as well as involve us in possible legal proceedings; and
•any improper conduct or actions on the part of our collaborators or third-parties could subject us to civil or criminal investigations and monetary and injunctive penalties, impact the accuracy and timing of our financial reporting and/or adversely impact our ability to conduct business, our operating results and our reputation.
Given these risks, there is considerable uncertainty regarding the success of our current and future collaborative efforts. If these efforts fail, our product development or commercialization of new products could be delayed, revenue from products could decline and/or we may not realize the anticipated benefits of these arrangements.
Our results of operations may be adversely affected by current and potential future healthcare reforms.
In the U.S., federal and state legislatures, health agencies and third-party payors continue to focus on containing the cost of health care. Legislative and regulatory proposals, enactments to reform health care insurance programs (including those contained in the IRA) and increasing pressure from social sources could significantly
31
Table of Contents
influence the manner in which our products are prescribed, purchased and reimbursed. For example, provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) have resulted in changes in the way health care is paid for by both governmental and private insurers, including increased rebates owed by manufacturers under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program, annual fees and taxes on manufacturers of certain branded prescription drugs, the requirement that manufacturers participate in a discount program for certain outpatient drugs under Medicare Part D and the expansion of the number of hospitals eligible for discounts under Section 340B of the Public Health Service Act. These changes have had and are expected to continue to have a significant impact on our business.
We may face uncertainties as a result of efforts to repeal, substantially modify or invalidate some or all of the provisions of the PPACA. There is no assurance that the PPACA, as currently enacted or as amended in the future, will not adversely affect our business and financial results, and we cannot predict how future federal or state legislative or administrative changes relating to healthcare reform will affect our business.
There is increasing public attention on the costs of prescription drugs and we expect drug pricing and other health care costs to continue to be subject to intense political and societal pressures on a global basis. For example, two committees of the U.S. House of Representatives previously investigated the approval and price of ADUHELM. In addition, there have been (including elements of the IRA), and are expected to continue to be, legislative proposals to address prescription drug pricing. Some of these proposals could have significant effects on our business, including an executive order issued in September 2020 to test a “most favored nation” model for Part B and Part D drugs that tie reimbursement rates to international drug pricing metrics. These actions and the uncertainty about the future of the PPACA and healthcare laws may put downward pressure on pharmaceutical pricing and increase our regulatory burdens and operating costs.
There is also significant economic pressure on state budgets, including as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, that may result in states increasingly seeking to achieve budget savings through mechanisms that limit coverage or payment for our drugs. In recent years, some states have considered legislation and ballot initiatives that would control the prices of drugs, including laws to allow importation of pharmaceutical products from lower cost jurisdictions outside the U.S. and laws intended to impose price controls on state drug purchases. State Medicaid programs are increasingly requesting manufacturers to pay supplemental rebates and requiring prior authorization by the state program for use of any drug for which supplemental rebates are not being paid. Government efforts to reduce Medicaid expense may lead to increased use of managed care organizations by Medicaid programs. This may result in managed care organizations influencing prescription decisions for a larger segment of the population and a corresponding limitation on prices and reimbursement for our products.
In the E.U. and some other international markets, the government provides health care at low cost to consumers and regulates pharmaceutical prices, patient eligibility or reimbursement levels to control costs for the government-sponsored health care system. Many countries have announced or implemented measures, and may in the future implement new or additional measures, to reduce health care costs to limit the overall level of government expenditures. These measures vary by country and may include, among other things, patient access restrictions, suspensions on price increases, prospective and possible retroactive price reductions and other recoupments and increased mandatory discounts or rebates, recoveries of past price increases and greater importation of drugs from lower-cost countries. These measures have negatively impacted our revenue and may continue to adversely affect our revenue and results of operations in the future.
Our success in commercializing biosimilars is subject to risks and uncertainties inherent in the development, manufacture and commercialization of biosimilars. If we are unsuccessful in such activities, our business may be adversely affected.
The development, manufacture and commercialization of biosimilar products require specialized expertise and are very costly and subject to complex regulation. Our success in commercializing biosimilars is subject to a number of risks, including:
•Reliance on Third-Parties. We are dependent, in part, on the efforts of collaboration partners and other third-parties over whom we have limited or no control in the development and manufacturing of biosimilars products. If these third-parties fail to perform successfully, our biosimilar product development or commercialization of biosimilar products could be delayed, revenue from biosimilar products could decline and/or we may not realize the anticipated benefits of these arrangements;
•Regulatory Compliance. Biosimilar products may face regulatory hurdles or delays due to the evolving and uncertain regulatory and commercial pathway of biosimilars products in certain jurisdictions;
•Ability to Provide Adequate Supply. Manufacturing biosimilars is complex. If we encounter any manufacturing or supply chain difficulties we may be unable to meet demand. We are dependent on a third-party for the manufacture of our biosimilar products and such third-party may not perform its obligations in a timely and
32
Table of Contents
cost-effective manner or in compliance with applicable regulations and may be unable or unwilling to increase production capacity commensurate with demand for our existing or future biosimilar products;
•Intellectual Property and Regulatory Challenges. Biosimilar products may face extensive patent clearances, patent infringement litigation, injunctions or regulatory challenges, which could prevent the commercial launch of a product or delay it for many years or result in imposition of monetary damages, penalties or other civil sanctions and damage our reputation;
•Failure to Gain Market and Patient Acceptance. Market success of biosimilar products will be adversely affected if patients, physicians and/or payors do not accept biosimilar products as safe and efficacious products offering a more competitive price or other benefit over existing therapies; and
•Competitive Challenges. Biosimilar products face significant competition, including from innovator products and biosimilar products offered by other companies that may receive greater acceptance or more favorable reimbursement. Local tendering processes may restrict biosimilar products from being marketed and sold in some jurisdictions. The number of competitors in a jurisdiction, the timing of approval and the ability to market biosimilar products successfully in a timely and cost-effective manner are additional factors that may impact our success in this business area.
Risks Related to Intellectual Property
If we are unable to obtain and maintain adequate protection for our data, intellectual property and other proprietary rights, our business may be harmed.
Our success, including our long-term viability and growth, depends, in part, on our ability to obtain and defend patent and other intellectual property rights, including certain regulatory forms of exclusivity, that are important to the commercialization of our products and product candidates. Patent protection and/or regulatory exclusivity in the U.S. and other important markets remains uncertain and depends, in part, upon decisions of the patent offices, courts, administrative bodies and lawmakers in these countries. We may fail to obtain or preserve patent and other intellectual property rights, including certain regulatory forms of exclusivity, or the protection we obtain may not be of sufficient breadth and degree to protect our commercial interests in all countries where we conduct business, which could result in financial, business or reputational harm to us or could cause a decline or volatility in our stock price. In addition, settlements of such proceedings often result in reducing the period of exclusivity and other protections, resulting in a reduction in revenue from affected products.
In many markets, including the U.S., manufacturers may be allowed to rely on the safety and efficacy data of the innovator's product and do not need to conduct clinical trials before marketing a competing version of a product after there is no longer patent or regulatory exclusivity. In such cases, manufacturers often charge significantly lower prices and a major portion of the company's revenue may be reduced in a short period of time. In addition, manufacturers of generics and biosimilars may choose to launch or attempt to launch their products before the expiration of our patent or other intellectual property protections.
Furthermore, our products may be determined to infringe patents or other intellectual property rights held by third-parties. Legal proceedings, administrative challenges or other types of proceedings are and may in the future be necessary to determine the validity, scope or non-infringement of certain patent rights claimed by third-parties to be pertinent to the manufacture, use or sale of our products. Legal proceedings may also be necessary to determine the rights, obligations and payments claimed during and after the expiration of intellectual property license agreements we have entered with third parties. Such proceedings are unpredictable and are often protracted and expensive. Negative outcomes of such proceedings could hinder or prevent us from manufacturing and marketing our products, require us to seek a license for the infringed product or technology or result in the assessment of significant monetary damages against us that may exceed amounts, if any, accrued in our financial statements. A failure to obtain necessary licenses for an infringed product or technology could prevent us from manufacturing or selling our products. Furthermore, payments under any licenses that we are able to obtain could reduce our profits from the covered products and services. Any of these circumstances could result in financial, business or reputational harm to us or could cause a decline or volatility in our stock price.
Risks Related to Development, Clinical Testing and Regulation of Our Products and Product Candidates
Successful preclinical work or early stage clinical trials does not ensure success in later stage trials, regulatory approval or commercial viability of a product.
Positive results in a clinical trial may not be replicated in subsequent or confirmatory trials. Additionally, success in preclinical work or early stage clinical trials does not ensure that later stage or larger scale clinical trials will be successful or that regulatory approval will be obtained. Even if later stage clinical trials are successful,
33
Table of Contents
regulatory authorities may delay or decline approval of our product candidates. Regulatory authorities may disagree with our view of the data, require additional studies, disagree with our trial design or endpoints or not approve adequate reimbursement. Regulatory authorities may also fail to approve the facilities or processes used to manufacture a product candidate, our dosing or delivery methods or companion devices. Regulatory authorities may grant marketing approval that is more restricted than anticipated, including limiting indications to narrow patient populations and the imposition of safety monitoring, educational requirements, requiring confirmatory trials and risk evaluation and mitigation strategies. The occurrence of any of these events could result in significant costs and expense, have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations and/or cause our stock price to decline or experience periods of volatility.
Clinical trials and the development of biopharmaceutical products is a lengthy and complex process. If we fail to adequately manage our clinical activities, our clinical trials or potential regulatory approvals may be delayed or denied.
Conducting clinical trials is a complex, time-consuming and expensive process. Our ability to complete clinical trials in a timely fashion depends on a number of key factors, including protocol design, regulatory and institutional review board approval, patient enrollment rates and compliance with current Good Clinical Practices. If we or our third-party clinical trial providers or third-party CROs do not successfully carry out these clinical activities, our clinical trials or the potential regulatory approval of a product candidate may be delayed or denied.
We have opened clinical trial sites and are enrolling patients in a number of countries where our experience is limited. In most cases, we use the services of third-parties to carry out our clinical trial related activities and rely on such parties to accurately report their results. Our reliance on third-parties for these activities may impact our ability to control the timing, conduct, expense and quality of our clinical trials. One CRO has responsibility for a substantial portion of our activities and reporting related to our clinical trials, adversely affect our expense associated with such trials and if such CRO does not adequately perform, many of our trials may be affected. We may need to replace our CROs, which may result in the delay of the affected trials or otherwise adversely affect our efforts to obtain regulatory approvals and commercialize our product candidates.
Adverse safety events or restrictions on use and safety warnings for our products can negatively affect our business, product sales and stock price.
Adverse safety events involving our marketed products, generic or biosimilar versions of our marketed products or products from the same class as one of our products may have a negative impact on our business. Discovery of safety issues with our products could create product liability and could cause additional regulatory scrutiny and requirements for additional labeling or safety monitoring, withdrawal of products from the market and/or the imposition of fines or criminal penalties. Adverse safety events may also damage physician, patient and/or investor confidence in our products and our reputation. Any of these could result in adverse impacts on our results of operations.
Regulatory authorities are making greater amounts of stand-alone safety information directly available to the public through periodic safety update reports, patient registries and other reporting requirements. The reporting of adverse safety events involving our products or products similar to ours and public rumors about such events may increase claims against us and may also cause our product sales to decline or our stock price to experience periods of volatility.
Restrictions on use or safety warnings that may be required to be included in the label of our products may significantly reduce expected revenue for those products and require significant expense and management time.
Risks Related to Our Operations
A breakdown or breach of our technology systems could subject us to liability or interrupt the operation of our business.
We are increasingly dependent upon technology systems and data to operate our business. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused us to modify our business practices in ways that heighten this dependence, including changing the requirement that most of our office-based employees in the U.S. and our other key markets work from the office, with a number of our employees now working in hybrid or full-remote positions. As a result, we are increasingly dependent upon our technology systems to operate our business and our ability to effectively manage our business depends on the security, reliability and adequacy of our technology systems and data, which includes use of cloud technologies, including Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). Breakdowns, invasions, corruptions, destructions and/or breaches of our technology systems or those of our business partners, including our cloud technologies, and/or unauthorized access to our data and information could subject us to liability, negatively impact our business operations, and/or require replacement of technology and/or ransom payments. Our technology systems, including our cloud technologies, continue to increase in multitude and complexity, increasing our vulnerability when breakdowns, malicious intrusions and random attacks occur. Data
34
Table of Contents
privacy or security breaches also pose a risk that sensitive data, including intellectual property, trade secrets or personal information belonging to us, patients, customers or other business partners, may be exposed to unauthorized persons or to the public.
Cyber-attacks are increasing in their frequency, sophistication and intensity, and are becoming increasingly difficult to detect, when they impact vendors, customers or companies, including vendors, suppliers and other companies in our supply chain. They are often carried out by motivated, well-resourced, skilled and persistent actors, including nation states, organized crime groups, “hacktivists” and employees or contractors acting with careless or malicious intent. Geopolitical instability, including that related to Russia's invasion of Ukraine may increase cyber-attacks. Cyber-attacks include deployment of harmful malware and key loggers, ransomware, a denial-of-service attack, a malicious website, the use of social engineering and other means to affect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of our technology systems and data. Cyber-attacks also include manufacturing, hardware or software supply chain attacks, which could cause a delay in the manufacturing of products or products produced for contract manufacturing or lead to a data privacy or security breach. Our key business partners face similar risks and any security breach of their systems could adversely affect our security posture. In addition, our increased use of cloud technologies heightens these and other operational risks, and any failure by cloud or other technology service providers to adequately safeguard their systems and prevent cyber-attacks could disrupt our operations and result in misappropriation, corruption or loss of confidential or propriety information.
While we continue to build and improve our systems and infrastructure, including our business continuity plans, there can be no assurance that our efforts will prevent breakdowns or breaches in our systems that could adversely affect our business and operations and/or result in the loss of critical or sensitive information, which could result in financial, legal, operational or reputational harm to us, loss of competitive advantage or loss of consumer confidence. Our liability insurance may not be sufficient in type or amount to cover us against claims related to security breaches, cyber-attacks and other related breaches.
Regulators are considering new cyber security regulations. For example, the SEC has proposed amendments to its disclosure rules regarding cyber security risk management, strategy, governance and incident reporting by public companies. These proposed regulations may impact the manner in which we operate.
Regulators are imposing new data privacy and security requirements, including new and greater monetary fines for privacy violations. For example, the E.U.’s General Data Protection Regulation established regulations regarding the handling of personal data, and provides an enforcement authority and imposes large penalties for noncompliance. New U.S. data privacy and security laws, such as the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), and others that may be passed, similarly introduce requirements with respect to personal information, and non-compliance with the CCPA may result in liability through private actions (subject to statutorily defined damages in the event of certain data breaches) and enforcement. Failure to comply with these current and future laws, policies, industry standards or legal obligations or any security incident resulting in the unauthorized access to, or acquisition, release or transfer of personal information may result in governmental enforcement actions, litigation, fines and penalties or adverse publicity and could cause our customers to lose trust in us, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
Manufacturing issues could substantially increase our costs, limit supply of our products and/or reduce our revenue.
The process of manufacturing our products is complex, highly regulated and subject to numerous risks, including:
•Risks of Reliance on Third-Parties and Single Source Providers. We rely on third-party suppliers and manufacturers for many aspects of our manufacturing process for our products and product candidates including VUMERITY. In some cases, due to the unique manner in which our products are manufactured, we rely on single source providers of raw materials and manufacturing supplies. These third-parties are independent entities subject to their own unique operational and financial risks that are outside of our control. These third-parties may not perform their obligations in a timely and cost-effective manner or in compliance with applicable regulations, and they may be unable or unwilling to increase production capacity commensurate with demand for our existing or future products. Finding alternative providers could take a significant amount of time and involve significant expense due to the specialized nature of the services and the need to obtain regulatory approval of any significant changes to our suppliers or manufacturing methods. We cannot be certain that we could reach agreement with alternative providers or that the FDA or other regulatory authorities would approve our use of such alternatives. Furthermore, factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic, weather events, labor or raw material shortages and other supply chain disruptions could result in difficulties and delays in manufacturing our products, which could have an adverse impact on our results in operations or result in product shortages.
35
Table of Contents
•Global Bulk Supply Risks. We rely on our manufacturing facilities for the production of drug substance for our large molecule products and product candidates. Our global bulk supply of these products and product candidates depends on the uninterrupted and efficient operation of these facilities, which could be adversely affected by equipment failures, labor or raw material shortages, public health epidemics, natural disasters, power failures, cyber-attacks and many other factors.
•Risks Relating to Compliance with current GMP (cGMP). We and our third-party providers are generally required to maintain compliance with cGMP and other stringent requirements and are subject to inspections by the FDA and other regulatory authorities to confirm compliance. Any delay, interruption or other issues that arise in the manufacture, fill-finish, packaging or storage of our products as a result of a failure of our facilities or operations or those of third-parties to receive regulatory approval or pass any regulatory agency inspection could significantly impair our ability to develop and commercialize our products. Significant noncompliance could also result in the imposition of monetary penalties or other civil or criminal sanctions and damage our reputation.
•Risk of Product Loss. The manufacturing process for our products is extremely susceptible to product loss due to contamination, oxidation, equipment failure or improper installation or operation of equipment or vendor or operator error. Even minor deviations from normal manufacturing processes could result in reduced production yields, product defects and other supply disruptions. If microbial, viral or other contaminations are discovered in our products or manufacturing facilities, we may need to close our manufacturing facilities for an extended period of time to investigate and remediate the contaminant.
Any adverse developments affecting our manufacturing operations or the operations of our third-party suppliers and manufacturers may result in shipment delays, inventory shortages, lot failures, product withdrawals or recalls or other interruptions in the commercial supply of our products. We may also have to take inventory write-offs and incur other charges and expense for products that fail to meet specifications, undertake costly remediation efforts or seek more costly manufacturing alternatives. Such developments could increase our manufacturing costs, cause us to lose revenue or market share as patients and physicians turn to competing therapeutics, diminish our profitability or damage our reputation.
In addition, although we have business continuity plans to reduce the potential for manufacturing disruptions or delays and reduce the severity of a disruptive event, there is no guarantee that these plans will be adequate, which could adversely affect our business and operations.
Management and other personnel changes may disrupt our operations, and we may have difficulty retaining personnel or attracting and retaining qualified replacements on a timely basis for the management and other personnel who may leave the Company.
Changes in management, other personnel and our overall retention rate may disrupt our business, and any such disruption could adversely affect our operations, programs, growth, financial condition or results of operations. New members of management may have different perspectives on programs and opportunities for our business, which may cause us to focus on new opportunities or reduce or change emphasis on our existing programs.
Our success is dependent upon our ability to attract and retain qualified management and other personnel in a highly competitive environment. Qualified individuals are in high demand, and we may incur significant costs to attract or retain them. We may face difficulty in attracting and retaining talent for a number of reasons, including management changes, the underperformance or discontinuation of one or more marketed or late stage programs, recruitment by competitors or changes in the overall labor market. In addition, changes in our organizational structure or in our flexible working arrangements could impact employees' productivity and morale as well as our ability to attract, retain and motivate employees. We cannot ensure that we will be able to hire or retain the personnel necessary for our operations or that the loss of any personnel will not have a material impact on our financial condition and results of operations.
If we fail to comply with the extensive legal and regulatory requirements affecting the health care industry, we could face increased costs, penalties and a loss of business.
Our activities, and the activities of our collaborators, distributors and other third-party providers, are subject to extensive government regulation and oversight in the U.S. and in foreign jurisdictions, and are subject to change and evolving interpretations, which could require us to incur substantial costs associated with compliance or to alter one or more of our business practices. The FDA and comparable foreign agencies directly regulate many of our most critical business activities, including the conduct of preclinical and clinical studies, product manufacturing, advertising and promotion, product distribution, adverse event reporting, product risk management and our compliance with good practice quality guidelines and regulations. Our interactions with physicians and other health
36
Table of Contents
care providers that prescribe or purchase our products are also subject to government regulation designed to prevent fraud and abuse in the sale and use of products and place significant restrictions on the marketing practices of health care companies. Health care companies are facing heightened scrutiny of their relationships with health care providers and have been the target of lawsuits and investigations alleging violations of government regulation, including claims asserting submission of incorrect pricing information, impermissible off-label promotion of pharmaceutical products, payments intended to influence the referral of health care business, submission of false claims for government reimbursement, antitrust violations or violations related to environmental matters. There is also enhanced scrutiny of company-sponsored patient assistance programs, including insurance premium and co-pay assistance programs and donations to third-party charities that provide such assistance. The U.S. government has challenged some of our donations to third-party charities that provide patient assistance. If we, or our vendors or donation recipients, are found to fail to comply with relevant laws, regulations or government guidance in the operation of these programs, we could be subject to significant fines or penalties. Risks relating to compliance with laws and regulations may be heightened as we continue to expand our global operations and enter new therapeutic areas with different patient populations, which may have different product distribution methods, marketing programs or patient assistance programs from those we currently utilize or support.
Conditions and regulations governing the health care industry are subject to change, with possible retroactive effect, including:
•new laws, regulations or judicial decisions, or new interpretations of existing laws, regulations or judicial decisions, related to health care availability, pricing or marketing practices, compliance with employment practices, method of delivery, payment for health care products and services, compliance with health information and data privacy and security laws and regulations, tracking and reporting payments and other transfers of value made to physicians and teaching hospitals, extensive anti-bribery and anti-corruption prohibitions, product serialization and labeling requirements and used product take-back requirements;
•changes in the FDA and foreign regulatory approval processes or perspectives that may delay or prevent the approval of new products and result in lost market opportunity;
•government shutdowns or relocations may result in delays to the review and approval process, slowing the time necessary for new drug candidates to be reviewed and/or approved, which may adversely affect our business;
•requirements that provide for increased transparency of clinical trial results and quality data, such as the EMA's clinical transparency policy, which could impact our ability to protect trade secrets and competitively-sensitive information contained in approval applications or could be misinterpreted leading to reputational damage, misperception or legal action, which could harm our business; and
•changes in FDA and foreign regulations that may require additional safety monitoring, labeling changes, restrictions on product distribution or use or other measures after the introduction of our products to market, which could increase our costs of doing business, adversely affect the future permitted uses of approved products or otherwise adversely affect the market for our products.
Violations of governmental regulation may be punishable by criminal and civil sanctions, including fines and civil monetary penalties and exclusion from participation in government programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, as well as against executives overseeing our business. We could also be required to repay amounts we received from government payors or pay additional rebates and interest if we are found to have miscalculated the pricing information we submitted to the government. In addition, legal proceedings and investigations are inherently unpredictable, and large judgments or settlements sometimes occur. While we believe that we have appropriate compliance controls, policies and procedures in place to comply with the laws or regulations of the jurisdictions in which we operate, there is a risk that acts committed by our employees, agents, distributors, collaborators or third-party providers might violate such laws or regulations. Whether or not we have complied with the law, an investigation or litigation related to alleged unlawful conduct could increase our expense, damage our reputation, divert management time and attention and adversely affect our business.
Our sales and operations are subject to the risks of doing business internationally.
We are increasing our presence in international markets, subjecting us to many risks that could adversely affect our business and revenue. There is no guarantee that our efforts and strategies to expand sales in international markets will succeed. Emerging market countries may be especially vulnerable to periods of global and local political, legal, regulatory and financial instability and may have a higher incidence of corruption and fraudulent business practices. Certain countries may require local clinical trial data as part of the drug registration process in addition to global clinical trials, which can add to overall drug development and registration timelines. We may also be required
37
Table of Contents
to increase our reliance on third-party agents or distributors and unfamiliar operations and arrangements previously utilized by companies we collaborate with or acquire in emerging markets.
Our sales and operations are subject to the risks of doing business internationally, including:
•the impact of public health epidemics, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, on the global economy and the delivery of healthcare treatments;
•less favorable intellectual property or other applicable laws;
•the inability to obtain necessary foreign regulatory approvals of products in a timely manner;
•limitations and additional pressures on our ability to obtain and maintain product pricing, reimbursement or receive price increases, including those resulting from governmental or regulatory requirements;
•increased cost of goods due to factors such as inflation and supply chain disruptions;
•additional complexity in manufacturing internationally;
•delays in clinical trials relating to geopolitical instability related to Russia's invasion of Ukraine;
•the inability to successfully complete subsequent or confirmatory clinical trials in countries where our experience is limited;
•longer payment and reimbursement cycles and uncertainties regarding the collectability of accounts receivable;
•fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates that may adversely impact our revenue, net income and value of certain of our investments;
•the imposition of governmental controls;
•diverse data privacy and protection requirements;
•increasingly complex standards for complying with foreign laws and regulations that may differ substantially from country to country and may conflict with corresponding U.S. laws and regulations;
•the far-reaching anti-bribery and anti-corruption legislation in the U.K., including the U.K. Bribery Act 2010, and elsewhere and escalation of investigations and prosecutions pursuant to such laws;
•compliance with complex import and export control laws;
•changes in tax laws; and
•the imposition of tariffs or embargoes and other trade restrictions.
In addition, our international operations are subject to regulation under U.S. law. For example, the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) prohibits U.S. companies and their representatives from paying, offering to pay, promising to pay or authorizing the payment of anything of value to any foreign government official, government staff member, political party or political candidate for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business or to otherwise obtain favorable treatment or influence a person working in an official capacity. In many countries, the health care professionals we regularly interact with may meet the FCPA's definition of a foreign government official. Failure to comply with domestic or foreign laws could result in various adverse consequences, including possible delay in approval or refusal to approve a product, recalls, seizures or withdrawal of an approved product from the market, disruption in the supply or availability of our products or suspension of export or import privileges, the imposition of civil or criminal sanctions, the prosecution of executives overseeing our international operations and damage to our reputation. Any significant impairment of our ability to sell products outside of the U.S. could adversely impact our business and financial results. In addition, while we believe that we have appropriate compliance controls, policies and procedures in place to comply with the FCPA, there is a risk that acts committed by our employees, agents, distributors, collaborators or third-party providers might violate the FCPA and we might be held responsible. If our employees, agents, distributors, collaborators or third-party providers are found to have engaged in such practices, we could suffer severe penalties and may be subject to other liabilities, which could negatively affect our business, operating results and financial condition.
We are building a large-scale biologics manufacturing facility, which will result in the incurrence of significant investment with no assurance that such investment will be recouped.
In order to support our future growth and drug development pipeline, we are expanding our large molecule production capacity by building a large-scale biologics manufacturing facility in Solothurn, Switzerland with no assurance that the additional capacity will be required or this investment will be recouped.
38
Table of Contents
If we are unable to fully utilize our manufacturing facilities, our business may be harmed. Charges resulting from excess capacity may continue to occur and would have a negative effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
Although the Solothurn facility was approved by the FDA for ADUHELM and LEQEMBI, there can be no assurance that the regulatory authorities will approve the Solothurn facility for the manufacturing of other products.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and other global health outbreaks may, directly or indirectly, adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Our business has and could continue to be adversely affected, directly or indirectly, by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and other global health outbreaks.
We continue to monitor our operations and applicable government recommendations, and we have made modifications to our normal operations because of the COVID-19 pandemic and other global health outbreaks, including limiting travel and adopting flexible working arrangements. Customer-facing professionals interactions in healthcare settings have changed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and other global health outbreaks. This limits our ability to market our products and educate physicians, which, in turn, could have an adverse effect on our ability to compete in the marketing and sales of our products.
Changes in flexible working arrangements could impact employee retention, employees' productivity and morale, strain our technology resources and introduce operational risks. Additionally, the risk of cyber-attacks or other privacy or data security incidents may be heightened as a result of our moving increasingly towards a remote working environment, which may be less secure and more susceptible to hacking attacks.
The COVID-19 pandemic and other global health outbreaks could affect the health and availability of our workforce as well as those of the third-parties we rely on. Furthermore, delays and disruptions experienced by our collaborators or other third-parties due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other global health outbreaks could adversely impact the ability of such parties to fulfill their obligations, which could affect product sales or the clinical development or regulatory approvals of product candidates under joint control.
Our ability to continue our existing clinical trials or to initiate new clinical trials has been and may continue to be adversely affected, directly or indirectly, by the COVID-19 pandemic and other global health outbreaks. Restrictions on travel and/or transport of clinical materials as well as diversion of hospital staff and resources to COVID-19 infected patients could disrupt trial operations and recruitment, possibly resulting in a slowdown in enrollment and/or deviations from or disruptions in key clinical trial activities, such as clinical trial site monitoring. These challenges may lead to difficulties in meeting protocol-specified procedures. We may need to make certain adjustments to the operation of clinical trials in an effort to minimize risks to trial data integrity during the COVID-19 pandemic and other global health outbreaks. In addition, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and other global health outbreaks on the operations of the FDA and other health authorities may delay potential approvals of our product candidates.
State and federal healthcare reform measures have been adopted in the past, and may be adopted in the future, any of which could limit the amounts that federal and state governments will pay for healthcare products and services, which could result in reduced demand for our products or additional pricing pressures and have a financial impact on our business that we cannot predict.
While it is not possible at this time to estimate the entirety of the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic and other global health outbreaks will continue to have on our business, the broad impact of the pandemic on all business activities may materially and adversely affect our business, supply chain and distribution systems, results of operations and financial condition.
The illegal distribution and sale by third-parties of counterfeit or unfit versions of our products or stolen products could have a negative impact on our reputation and business.
Third-parties might illegally distribute and sell counterfeit or unfit versions of our products, which do not meet our rigorous manufacturing, distribution and testing standards. A patient who receives a counterfeit or unfit drug may be at risk for a number of dangerous health consequences. Our reputation and business could suffer harm as a result of counterfeit or unfit drugs sold under our brand name. Inventory that is stolen from warehouses, plants or while in-transit, and that is subsequently improperly stored and sold through unauthorized channels, could adversely impact patient safety, our reputation and our business.
The increasing use of social media platforms presents new risks and challenges.
Social media is increasingly being used to communicate about our products and the diseases our therapies are designed to treat. Social media practices in the biopharmaceutical industry continue to evolve and regulations relating to such use are not always clear and create uncertainty and risk of noncompliance with regulations
39
Table of Contents
applicable to our business. For example, patients may use social media channels to comment on the effectiveness of a product or to report an alleged adverse event. When such disclosures occur, there is a risk that we fail to monitor and comply with applicable adverse event reporting obligations or we may not be able to defend the company or the public's legitimate interests in the face of the political and market pressures generated by social media due to restrictions on what we may say about our products. There is also a risk of inappropriate disclosure of sensitive information or negative or inaccurate posts or comments about us on social media. We may also encounter criticism on social media regarding our company, management, product candidates or products. The immediacy of social media precludes us from having real-time control over postings made regarding us via social media, whether matters of fact or opinion. Our reputation could be damaged by negative publicity or if adverse information concerning us is posted on social media platforms or similar mediums, which we may not be able to reverse. If any of these events were to occur or we otherwise fail to comply with applicable regulations, we could incur liability, face restrictive regulatory actions or incur other harm to our business.
Risks Related to Holding Our Common Stock
Our operating results are subject to significant fluctuations.
Our quarterly revenue, expense and net income (loss) have fluctuated in the past and are likely to fluctuate significantly in the future due to the risks described in these Risk Factors as well as the timing of charges and expense that we may take. We have recorded, or may be required to record, charges that include:
•the cost of restructurings or other initiatives to streamline our operations and reallocate resources;
•impairments with respect to investments, fixed assets and long-lived assets, including in-process research and development (IPR&D) and other intangible assets;
•inventory write-downs for failed quality specifications, recurring charges for excess or obsolete inventory and charges for inventory write-downs relating to product suspensions, expirations or recalls;
•changes in the fair value of contingent consideration or our equity investments;
•bad debt expense and increased bad debt reserves;
•outcomes of litigation and other legal or administrative proceedings, regulatory matters and tax matters;
•payments in connection with acquisitions, divestitures and other business development activities and under license and collaboration agreements;
•failure to meet certain contractual commitments; and
•the impact of public health epidemics, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, on employees, the global economy and the delivery of healthcare treatments.
Our revenue and certain assets and liabilities are also subject to foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations due to the global nature of our operations. Our efforts to mitigate the impact of fluctuating currency exchange rates may not be successful. As a result, currency fluctuations among our reporting currency, the U.S. dollar, and other currencies in which we do business will affect our operating results, often in unpredictable ways. Our net income may also fluctuate due to the impact of charges we may be required to take with respect to foreign currency hedge transactions. In particular, we may incur higher than expected charges from early termination of a hedge relationship.
Our operating results during any one period do not necessarily suggest the anticipated results of future periods.
Our investments in properties may not be fully realized.
We own or lease real estate primarily consisting of buildings that contain research laboratories, office space and manufacturing operations. We may decide to consolidate or co-locate certain aspects of our business operations or dispose of one or more of our properties, some of which may be located in markets that are experiencing high vacancy rates and decreasing property values. If we determine that the fair value of any of our owned properties is lower than their book value, we may not realize the full investment in these properties and incur significant impairment charges or additional depreciation when the expected useful lives of certain assets have been shortened due to the anticipated closing of facilities. If we decide to fully or partially vacate a property, we may incur significant cost, including facility closing costs, employee separation and retention expense, lease termination fees, rent expense in excess of sublease income and impairment of leasehold improvements and accelerated depreciation of assets. Any of these events may have an adverse impact on our results of operations.
Our investment portfolio is subject to market, interest and credit risk that may reduce its value.
We maintain a portfolio of marketable securities for investment of our cash as well as investments in equity securities of certain biotechnology companies. Changes in the value of our investment portfolio could adversely
40
Table of Contents
affect our earnings. The value of our investments may decline due to, among other things, increases in interest rates, downgrades of the bonds and other securities in our portfolio, negative company-specific news, biotechnology market sentiment, instability in the global financial markets that reduces the liquidity of securities in our portfolio, declines in the value of collateral underlying the securities in our portfolio and other factors. Each of these events may cause us to record charges to reduce the carrying value of our investment portfolio or sell investments for less than our acquisition cost. Although we attempt to mitigate these risks through diversification of our investments and continuous monitoring of our portfolio's overall risk profile, the value of our investments may nevertheless decline.
There can be no assurance that we will continue to repurchase shares or that we will repurchase shares at favorable prices.
From time to time our Board of Directors authorizes share repurchase programs. The amount and timing of share repurchases are subject to capital availability and our determination that share repurchases are in the best interest of our shareholders and are in compliance with all respective laws and our applicable agreements. Our ability to repurchase shares will depend upon, among other factors, our cash balances and potential future capital requirements for strategic transactions, our results of operations, our financial condition and other factors beyond our control that we may deem relevant. Additionally, the recently enacted IRA includes an excise tax on share repurchases, which will increase the cost of share repurchases. A reduction in repurchases under, or the completion of, our share repurchase programs could have a negative effect on our stock price. We can provide no assurance that we will repurchase shares at favorable prices, if at all.
We may not be able to access the capital and credit markets on terms that are favorable to us.
We may seek access to the capital and credit markets to supplement our existing funds and cash generated from operations for working capital, capital expenditure and debt service requirements and other business initiatives. The capital and credit markets are experiencing, and have in the past experienced, extreme volatility and disruption, which leads to uncertainty and liquidity issues for both borrowers and investors. In the event of adverse market conditions, we may be unable to obtain capital or credit market financing on favorable terms. Changes in credit ratings issued by nationally recognized credit rating agencies could also adversely affect our cost of financing and the market price of our securities.
Our indebtedness could adversely affect our business and limit our ability to plan for or respond to changes in our business.
Our indebtedness, together with our significant contingent liabilities, including milestone and royalty payment obligations, could have important consequences to our business; for example, such obligations could:
•increase our vulnerability to general adverse economic and industry conditions;
•limit our ability to access capital markets and incur additional debt in the future;
•require us to dedicate a substantial portion of our cash flow from operations to payments on our indebtedness, thereby reducing the availability of our cash flow for other purposes, including business development, research and development and mergers and acquisitions; and
•limit our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business and the industry in which we operate, thereby placing us at a disadvantage compared to our competitors that have less debt.
Some of our collaboration agreements contain change in control provisions that may discourage a third-party from attempting to acquire us.
Some of our collaboration agreements include change in control provisions that could reduce the potential acquisition price an acquirer is willing to pay or discourage a takeover attempt that could be viewed as beneficial to shareholders. Upon a change in control, some of these provisions could trigger reduced milestone, profit or royalty payments to us or give our collaboration partner rights to terminate our collaboration agreement, acquire operational control or force the purchase or sale of the programs that are the subject of the collaboration.
General Risk Factors
Our effective tax rate fluctuates, and we may incur obligations in tax jurisdictions in excess of accrued amounts.
As a global biopharmaceutical company, we are subject to taxation in numerous countries, states and other jurisdictions. As a result, our effective tax rate is derived from a combination of applicable tax rates, including withholding taxes, in the various places that we operate. In preparing our financial statements, we estimate the amount of tax that will become payable in each of such places. Our effective tax rate may be different than experienced in the past or our current expectations due to many factors, including changes in the mix of our
41
Table of Contents
profitability from country to country, the results of examinations and audits of our tax filings (including those related to the impact of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017), adjustments to the value of our uncertain tax positions, interpretations by tax authorities or other bodies with jurisdiction, the result of tax cases, changes in accounting for income taxes and changes in tax laws and regulations either prospectively or retrospectively (including those related to the IRA).
Our inability to secure or sustain acceptable arrangements with tax authorities and future changes in the tax laws, among other things, may result in tax obligations in excess of amounts accrued in our financial statements.
The enactment of some or all of the recommendations set forth or that may be forthcoming in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s project on “Base Erosion and Profit Shifting” (BEPS) by tax authorities and economic blocs in the countries in which we operate, could unfavorably impact our effective tax rate. These initiatives focus on common international principles for the entitlement to taxation of global corporate profits and minimum global tax rates.
Our business involves environmental risks, which include the cost of compliance and the risk of contamination or injury.
Our business and the business of several of our strategic partners involve the controlled use of hazardous materials, chemicals, biologics and radioactive compounds. Although we believe that our safety procedures for handling and disposing of such materials comply with state, federal and foreign standards, there will always be the risk of accidental contamination or injury. If we were to become liable for an accident, or if we were to suffer an extended facility shutdown, we could incur significant costs, damages and penalties that could harm our business. Manufacturing of our products and product candidates also requires permits from government agencies for water supply and wastewater discharge. If we do not obtain appropriate permits, including permits for sufficient quantities of water and wastewater, we could incur significant costs and limits on our manufacturing volumes that could harm our business. Additionally, regulators are considering new environmental disclosure rules. For example, the SEC has proposed amendments to its disclosure rules regarding climate-related disclosure requirements. These proposed regulations may impact the manner in which we operate.
ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
None.
ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
Below is a summary of our owned and leased properties as of December 31, 2022.
U.S.
Massachusetts
In Cambridge, MA we own approximately 263,000 square feet of real estate space, consisting of a building that houses a research laboratory and a cogeneration plant.
In addition, we lease a total of approximately 1,429,000 square feet in Massachusetts, which is summarized as follows:
•1,072,000 square feet in Cambridge, MA, which is comprised of offices for our corporate headquarters and other administrative and development functions and laboratories, of which 289,000 square feet is subleased by multiple companies for general office space, laboratories and manufacturing facilities; and
•357,000 square feet of office space in Weston, MA, of which 174,000 square feet is subleased through the remaining term of our lease agreement.
Our Massachusetts lease agreements expire at various dates through the year 2028.
125 Broadway Building Sale and Leaseback
In September 2022 we completed the sale of our building and land parcel located at 125 Broadway. In connection with this sale, we simultaneously leased back the building for a term of approximately 5.5 years, which resulted in the recognition of approximately $168.2 million in new lease liabilities and right-of-use assets recorded within our consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2022. The sale and immediate leaseback of this building qualified for sale and leaseback treatment and is classified as an operating lease. For additional information
42
Table of Contents
on our 125 Broadway sale and leaseback transaction, please read Note 11, Property, Plant and Equipment and Note 12, Leases, to our consolidated financial statements included in this report.
300 Binney Street Lease Modification
In September 2022 we entered into an agreement to partially terminate a portion of our lease located at 300 Binney Street, Cambridge, MA (300 Binney Street), as well as to reduce the lease term for the majority of the remaining space. The agreement was driven by our 2022 efforts to reduce costs by consolidating real estate locations. For additional information on our 300 Binney Street lease modification, please read Note 12, Leases, to our consolidated financial statements included in this report.
North Carolina
In RTP, NC we own approximately 1,040,000 square feet of real estate space, which is summarized as follows:
•357,000 square feet of laboratory and office space;
•206,000 square foot multi-purpose facility, including an ASO manufacturing suite and administrative space;
•175,000 square feet related to a large-scale biologics manufacturing facility;
•105,000 square feet related to a small-scale biologics manufacturing facility;
•84,000 square feet of warehouse space and utilities;
•70,000 square feet related to a parenteral fill-finish facility; and
•43,000 square feet related to a large-scale purification facility.
In addition, we lease approximately 65,000 square feet of warehouse space in Durham, NC. Our North Carolina lease agreements expire at various dates through the year 2025.
In March 2021 we announced our plans to build a new gene therapy manufacturing facility in RTP, NC to support our gene therapy pipeline across multiple therapeutic areas. The new manufacturing facility will be approximately 197,000 square feet and is expected to be operational by the end of 2023, with an estimated total investment of approximately $195.0 million. Construction for this new facility began during the fourth quarter of 2021.
International
Switzerland
In order to support our future growth and drug development pipeline, we are building a large-scale biologics manufacturing facility in Solothurn, Switzerland. Upon completion, this facility will include 393,000 square feet related to a large-scale biologics manufacturing facility, 290,000 square feet of warehouse, utilities and support space and 51,000 square feet of administrative space. In the second quarter of 2021 a portion of the facility received a GMP multi-product license from SWISSMEDIC. Solothurn has been approved for the manufacture of ADUHELM and LEQEMBI by the FDA. We estimate the second manufacturing suite at the Solothurn facility will be operational by the end of 2023.
Other International
We lease office space in Baar, Switzerland, our international headquarters; the U.K.; Germany; France; Japan; Canada and numerous other countries. Our international lease agreements expire at various dates through the year 2031.
ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
For a discussion of legal matters as of December 31, 2022, please read Note 21, Litigation, to our consolidated financial statements included in this report, which is incorporated into this item by reference.
ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES
Not applicable.
43
Table of Contents
PART II
ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
Market and Stockholder Information
Our common stock trades on The Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “BIIB.” As of February 14, 2023, there were approximately 448 shareholders of record of our common stock.
Dividends
We have not paid cash dividends since our inception. While we historically have not paid cash dividends and do not have a current intention to pay cash dividends, we continually review our capital allocation strategies, including, among other things, payment of cash dividends, share repurchases and acquisitions.
Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
The following table summarizes our common stock repurchase activity during the fourth quarter of 2022:
Total(1) — $ —
(1) There were no share repurchases during the fourth quarter of 2022.
In October 2020 our Board of Directors authorized a program to repurchase up to $5.0 billion of our common stock (2020 Share Repurchase Program). Our 2020 Share Repurchase Program does not have an expiration date. All share repurchases under our 2020 Share Repurchase Program will be retired. Under our 2020 Share Repurchase Program, we repurchased and retired approximately 3.6 million, 6.0 million and 1.6 million shares of our common stock at a cost of approximately $750.0 million, $1.8 billion and $400.0 million during the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively. Approximately $2.1 billion remained available under our 2020 Share Repurchase Program as of December 31, 2022.
In December 2019 our Board of Directors authorized a program to repurchase up to $5.0 billion of our common stock (December 2019 Share Repurchase Program), which was completed as of September 30, 2020. All shares repurchased under our December 2019 Share Repurchase Program were retired. Under our December 2019 Share Repurchase Program, we repurchased and retired approximately 16.7 million shares of our common stock at a cost of approximately $5.0 billion during the year ended December 31, 2020.
In March 2019 our Board of Directors authorized a program to repurchase up to $5.0 billion of our common stock (March 2019 Share Repurchase Program), which was completed as of March 31, 2020. All shares repurchased under our March 2019 Share Repurchase Program were retired. Under our March 2019 Share Repurchase Program, we repurchased and retired approximately 4.1 million shares of our common stock at a cost of approximately $1.3 billion during the year ended December 31, 2020.
In August 2022 the IRA was signed into law. Among other things, the IRA levies a 1.0% excise tax on net stock repurchases after December 31, 2022. Historically, we have made discretionary share repurchases.
44
Table of Contents
Performance Graph
The performance graph below compares the five-year cumulative total stockholder return on our common stock, the Nasdaq Pharmaceutical Index, the S&P 500 Index and the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index. The performance graph below assumes the investment of $100.00 on December 31, 2017, in our common stock and each of the three indexes, with dividends being reinvested.
The stock price performance in the graph below is not necessarily indicative of future price performance.
The information included under the heading Performance Graph is “furnished” and not “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act, or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section, nor shall it be deemed to be “soliciting material” subject to Regulation 14A or incorporated by reference in any filing under the Securities Act of 1933 or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
ITEM 6. RESERVED
45
Table of Contents
ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The following discussion should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and the accompanying notes beginning on page F-1 of this report.
For our discussion of the year ended December 31, 2021, compared to the year ended December 31, 2020, please read Item 7.Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations located in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021.
Executive Summary
Introduction
Biogen is a global biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and delivering innovative therapies for people living with serious and complex diseases worldwide. We have a broad portfolio of medicines to treat MS, have introduced the first approved treatment for SMA and co-developed two treatments to address a defining pathology of Alzheimer’s disease. We are focused on advancing our pipeline in neurology, neuropsychiatry, specialized immunology and rare diseases. We support our drug discovery and development efforts through internal research and development programs and external collaborations.
Our marketed products include TECFIDERA, VUMERITY, AVONEX, PLEGRIDY, TYSABRI and FAMPYRA for the treatment of MS; SPINRAZA for the treatment of SMA; ADUHELM for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease; and FUMADERM for the treatment of severe plaque psoriasis. We also collaborate with Eisai on the commercialization of LEQEMBI for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, which was granted accelerated approval by the FDA in January 2023. We have certain business and financial rights with respect to RITUXAN for the treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, CLL and other conditions; RITUXAN HYCELA for the treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and CLL; GAZYVA for the treatment of CLL and follicular lymphoma; OCREVUS for the treatment of PPMS and RMS; LUNSUMIO (mosunetuzumab), which was granted accelerated approval in the U.S. during the fourth quarter of 2022 for the treatment of relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma; glofitamab, an investigational bispecific antibody for the potential treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma; and have the option to add other potential anti-CD20 therapies, pursuant to our collaboration arrangements with Genentech, a wholly-owned member of the Roche Group.
In addition to continuing to invest in new potential innovation in MS and SMA we are advancing our mid-to-late stage programs including zuranolone for MDD and PPD, BIIB080 for Alzheimer's disease, tofersen for ALS and both litifilimab and dapirolizumab pegol for certain forms of lupus.
We also commercialize biosimilars of advanced biologics including BENEPALI, an etanercept biosimilar referencing ENBREL, IMRALDI, an adalimumab biosimilar referencing HUMIRA, and FLIXABI, an infliximab biosimilar referencing REMICADE, in certain countries in Europe, as well as BYOOVIZ, a ranibizumab biosimilar referencing LUCENTIS, in the U.S. We continue to develop potential biosimilar products including BIIB800, a proposed tocilizumab biosimilar referencing ACTEMRA, and SB15, a proposed aflibercept biosimilar referencing EYLEA. In February 2023 we announced that we are exploring strategic options for our biosimilars business.
For additional information on our collaboration arrangements, please read Note 19, Collaborative and Other Relationships, to our consolidated financial statements included in this report.
We seek to ensure an uninterrupted supply of medicines to patients around the world. To that end, we continually review our manufacturing capacity, capabilities, processes and facilities. In order to support our future growth and drug development pipeline, we are expanding our large molecule production capacity by building a large-scale biologics manufacturing facility in Solothurn, Switzerland. In the second quarter of 2021 a portion of the facility received a GMP multi-product license from SWISSMEDIC. Solothurn has been approved for the manufacture of ADUHELM and LEQEMBI by the FDA. We estimate the second manufacturing suite at the Solothurn facility will be operational by the end of 2023. We believe that the Solothurn facility will support our anticipated near-term needs for the manufacturing of biologic assets. If we are unable to fully utilize our manufacturing facilities, due to lower than forecasted demand for our products, we will incur excess capacity charges which will have a negative effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
Our revenue depends upon continued sales of our products as well as the financial rights we have in our anti-CD20 therapeutic programs, and, unless we develop, acquire rights to and/or commercialize new products and technologies, we will be substantially dependent on sales from our products and our financial rights in our anti-CD20 therapeutic programs for many years.
In the longer term, our revenue growth will depend upon the successful clinical development, regulatory approval and launch of new commercial
46
Table of Contents
products as well as additional indications for our existing products, our ability to obtain and maintain patents and other rights related to our marketed products, assets originating from our research and development efforts and/or successful execution of external business development opportunities.
Business Environment
For a detailed discussion on our business environment, please read Item 1. Business, included in this report. For additional information on our competition and pricing risks that could negatively impact our product sales, please read Item 1A. Risk Factors, included in this report.
ADUHELM (aducanumab)
U.S.
In June 2021 the FDA granted accelerated approval of ADUHELM, which, until March of 2022, we had been collaborating on with Eisai, based on reduction in amyloid beta plaques observed in patients treated with ADUHELM. As part of the accelerated approval, we are required to conduct a confirmatory trial to verify the clinical benefit of ADUHELM in patients with Alzheimer’s disease. The FDA may withdraw approval if, among other things, the confirmatory trial fails to verify clinical benefit of ADUHELM, ADUHELM's benefit-risk is no longer positive or we fail to comply with the conditions of the accelerated approval.
In April 2022 the CMS released a final NCD for the class of anti-amyloid treatments in Alzheimer's disease, including ADUHELM. The final NCD confirmed coverage with evidence development, in which patients with Medicare can only access treatment if they are part of an approved clinical trial. This decision effectively resulted in denying all Medicare beneficiaries access to ADUHELM. We expect that this decision will reduce future demand for ADUHELM to a minimal level.
During the first quarter of 2022, as a result of the final NCD, we recorded approximately $275.0 million of charges associated with the write-off of inventory and purchase commitments in excess of forecasted demand related to ADUHELM. Additionally, for the year ended December 31, 2022, we recorded approximately $111.0 million of aggregate gross idle capacity charges related to ADUHELM. These charges were recorded in cost of sales within our consolidated statements of income for the year ended December 31, 2022.
We have recognized approximately $197.0 million related to Eisai's 45.0% share of inventory, idle capacity charges and contractual commitments in collaboration profit (loss) sharing
within our consolidated statements of income for the year ended December 31, 2022.
Additionally, as a result of the final NCD we have substantially eliminated our commercial infrastructure supporting ADUHELM, retaining minimal resources to manage patient access programs, including a continued free drug program for patients currently on treatment in the U.S.
We expect to continue funding certain regulatory and research and development activities for ADUHELM, including the continuation of the EMBARK re-dosing study and the Phase 4 post-marketing requirement study, ENVISION. Additional actions regarding ADUHELM may be informed by upcoming data readouts expected for this class of antibodies, as well as further engagement with the FDA and CMS.
On March 14, 2022, we amended our ADUHELM Collaboration Agreement with Eisai. As of the amendment date, we have sole decision making and commercialization rights worldwide on ADUHELM, and beginning January 1, 2023, Eisai receives only a tiered royalty based on net sales of ADUHELM, and no longer participates in sharing ADUHELM's global profits and losses. Eisai's share of development, commercialization and manufacturing expense was limited to $335.0 million for the period from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022, which was achieved as of December 31, 2022. Once this limit was achieved, we became responsible for all ADUHELM related costs.
Rest of World
In October 2020 the EMA accepted for review the MAA for aducanumab and in December 2020 the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) accepted for review the Japanese NDA for aducanumab.
In December 2021 the CHMP of the EMA adopted a negative opinion on the MAA for aducanumab in Europe. We sought re-examination of the opinion by the CHMP. In April 2022 we announced our decision to withdraw our MAA for aducanumab in Europe.
TECFIDERA
Multiple TECFIDERA generic entrants are now in North America, Brazil and certain E.U. countries and have deeply discounted prices compared to TECFIDERA. The generic competition for TECFIDERA has significantly reduced our TECFIDERA revenue and we expect that TECFIDERA revenue will continue to decline in the future.
In the E.U., we are seeking to enforce a patent granted in June 2022 that relates to TECFIDERA and expires in 2028. In addition, we are litigating to affirm that TECFIDERA is entitled to regulatory data and
47
Table of Contents
market protection until at least February 2024. Our Company, the EMA and the EC have each appealed the May 2021 decision of the European General Court, which annulled the EMA's decision not to validate an application for approval of a TECFIDERA generic on the basis that the EMA and EC conducted the wrong assessment when determining TECFIDERA's entitlement to regulatory data and marketing protection. Our Company, the EMA and the EC have each appealed the General Court’s decision as wrongly decided and the appeal is pending. On October 6, 2022, the Advocate General of the CJEU issued a nonbinding advisory opinion in Biogen's favor. This opinion recommends that the CJEU set aside the judgment of the European General Court. We are awaiting the decision of the CJEU.
For additional information, please read Note 21, Litigation, to our consolidated financial statements included in this report and the discussion under Results of Operations - Product Revenue - Multiple Sclerosis (MS) - Fumarate below.
Business Update Regarding COVID-19 and Other Disruptions
COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to present a substantial public health and economic challenge around the world. The length of time and full extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic directly or indirectly impacts our business, results of operations and financial condition, including sales, expense, reserves and allowances, the supply chain, manufacturing, clinical trials, research and development costs and employee-related costs, depends on future developments that are highly uncertain, subject to change and are difficult to predict, including as a result of new information that may emerge concerning COVID-19 and the actions taken to contain or treat COVID-19 as well as the economic impact on local, regional, national and international customers and markets.
We are monitoring the demand for our products, including the duration and degree to which we may see delays in starting new patients on a product due to hospitals diverting the resources that are necessary to administer certain of our products to care for COVID-19 patients, including products, such as TYSABRI and SPINRAZA, that are administered in a physician's office or hospital setting. We may also see reduced demand for immunosuppressant therapies during the COVID-19 pandemic.
While we are currently continuing the clinical trials we have underway in sites across the globe, COVID-19 precautions have impacted the timeline for some of our clinical trials and these precautions may,
directly or indirectly, have a further impact on timing in the future.
Geopolitical Tensions
The ongoing geopolitical tensions related to Russia's invasion of Ukraine have resulted in global business disruptions and economic volatility, including sanctions and other restrictions levied on the government and businesses in Russia. Although we do not have affiliates or employees, in either Russia or Ukraine, we do provide various therapies to patients in Russia through a distributor and are currently involved in clinical trials with sites in Ukraine and Russia. The timing and costs of these trials may be impacted as a result of the conflict. In addition, new government sanctions on the export of certain manufacturing materials to Russia may delay or limit our ability to get new products approved.
The impact of the conflict on our operations and financial performance remains uncertain and will depend on future developments, including the severity and duration of the conflict, its impact on regional and global economic conditions and whether the conflict spreads or has effects on countries outside Ukraine and Russia. Revenue generated from sales in these regions represented less than 2.0% of total product revenue for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021.
We will continue to monitor the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine and assess any potential impacts on our business, supply chain, partners or customers, as well as any factors that could have an adverse effect on our results of operations.
Factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic and other global health outbreaks, adverse weather events, geopolitical events, labor or raw material shortages and other supply chain disruptions could result in product shortages or other difficulties and delays or increased costs in manufacturing our products.
For additional information on the various risks posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine, please read Item 1A.Risk Factors, included in this report.
48
Table of Contents
Inflation Reduction Act of 2022
In August 2022 the IRA was signed into law in the U.S. The IRA introduced new tax provisions, including a 15.0% corporate alternative minimum tax and a 1.0% excise tax on stock repurchases. The provisions of the IRA will be effective for periods after December 31, 2022. The enactment of the IRA did not result in any material adjustments to our income tax provision or net deferred tax assets as of December 31, 2022. We expect additional guidance and regulations to be issued in future periods and will continue to assess its potential impact on our business and results of operations as further information becomes available.
The IRA also contains substantial drug pricing reforms that may have a significant impact on the pharmaceutical industry in the U.S. This includes allowing CMS to negotiate a maximum fair price for certain high-priced single source Medicare drugs, as well as redesigning Medicare Part D to reduce out-of-pocket prescription drug costs for beneficiaries, potentially resulting in higher contributions from plans and manufacturers. The IRA also establishes drug inflationary rebate requirements to penalize manufacturers from raising the prices of Medicare covered single-source drugs and biologics beyond the inflation-adjusted rate. Further, to incentivize biosimilar development, the IRA provides an 8.0% Medicare Part B add-on payment for qualifying biosimilar products for a five-year period.
The overall impact that the IRA will have on our business, results of operations and financial condition, and the impact on the pharmaceutical industry as a whole is not yet known. We will continue to assess as further information becomes available.
Financial Highlights
Diluted earnings per share attributable to Biogen Inc. were $20.87 for 2022, representing an increase of 100.7% as compared to $10.40 in the same period in 2021.
As described below under Results of Operations, our net income and diluted earnings per share attributable to Biogen Inc. for the year ended December 31, 2022, compared to the year ended December 31, 2021, reflects the following:
Revenue
•Total revenue was $10,173.4 million for 2022, representing an $808.3 million, or 7.4%, decrease compared to $10,981.7 million in 2021.
•Product revenue, net totaled $7,987.8 million for 2022, representing an $859.1 million, or 9.7%, decrease compared to $8,846.9 million in 2021. This decrease was primarily due to a $666.5 million, or 10.9%, decrease in MS product
revenue, a $111.6 million, or 5.9%, decrease in SPINRAZA product revenue and an $80.0 million, or 9.6%, decrease in revenue from our biosimilar business.
◦The decrease in MS product revenue of $666.5 million, or 10.9%, from $6,096.7 million in 2021 to $5,430.2 million in 2022, was primarily due to a decrease in TECFIDERA demand as a result of multiple TECFIDERA generic entrants in North America, Brazil and certain E.U. countries, and a decrease in Interferon demand due to competition as patients transition to higher efficacy and oral MS therapies.
◦The decrease in SPINRAZA revenue of $111.6 million, or 5.9%, from $1,905.1 million in 2021 to $1,793.5 million in 2022, was primarily due to country mix, the unfavorable impact of foreign currency exchange and the timing of shipments, partially offset by an increase in sales volumes. The increase in sales volumes reflects growth in certain Asian markets, partially offset by a decrease in sales volumes from increased competition in certain established markets, particularly Germany and Japan.
◦The decrease in revenue from our biosimilar business of $80.0 million, or 9.6%, from $831.1 million in 2021 to $751.1 million in 2022, was primarily due to unfavorable pricing and the unfavorable impact of foreign currency exchange, partially offset by an increase in sales volumes.
•Revenue from anti-CD20 therapeutic programs totaled $1,700.5 million for 2022, representing a $42.0 million, or 2.5%, increase compared to $1,658.5 million in 2021. This increase was primarily due to a $144.6 million, or 14.6%, increase in royalty revenue on sales of OCREVUS, partially offset by a $103.4 million, or 18.0%, decrease in RITUXAN revenue. Sales of RITUXAN have been adversely affected by biosimilar competition.
•Other revenue totaled $485.1 million for 2022, representing a $8.8 million, or 1.8%, increase from $476.3 million in 2021.
Expense
•Total cost and expense was $6,581.6 million for 2022, representing a $2,654.9 million, or 28.7%, decrease compared to $9,236.5 million in 2021.
49
Table of Contents
◦Research and development expense decreased $270.1 million, or 10.8%, from $2,501.2 million in 2021 to $2,231.1 million in 2022, primarily due to higher upfront payments in 2021. In 2021 we recorded approximately $285.0 million of upfront payments related to our collaborations with InnoCare, Ionis, Bio-Thera, Genentech, Capsigen Inc., and Ginkgo Bioworks, as compared to $28.5 million in 2022. In addition, $39.1 million of estimated clinical trial closeout costs and manufacturing commitments associated with BIIB111 (timrepigene emparvovec) and BIIB112 (cotoretigene toliparvovec) were recorded in 2021.
◦Amortization and impairment of acquired intangible assets decreased $515.4 million, or 58.5%, from $881.3 million in 2021 to $365.9 million in 2022, primarily due to higher impairment charges recorded in 2021. In 2021 we recorded $629.3 million of impairment charges, as compared to $119.6 million in 2022.
◦The decrease in cost and expense was also due to a pre-tax gain of $503.7 million recognized in 2022 related to the sale of one of our buildings.
◦Other (income) expense, net for 2022 reflected a pre-tax gain of $1.5 billion related to the sale of our 49.9% equity interest in Samsung Bioepis, partially offset by a pre-tax charge of $900.0 million, plus settlement fees and expenses, related to a litigation settlement agreement to resolve a qui tam litigation relating to conduct prior to 2015.
As described below under Financial Condition, Liquidity and Capital Resources:
•We generated $1,384.3 million of net cash flow from operations for 2022.
•Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities totaled approximately $5,598.5 million as of December 31, 2022.
•We repurchased and retired approximately 3.6 million shares of our common stock at a cost of approximately $750.0 million during 2022 under our 2020 Share Repurchase Program. Approximately $2.1 billion remained available under our 2020 Share Repurchase Program as of December 31, 2022.
Developments in Key Collaborative Relationships
For additional information on our collaborative and other relationships discussed below, please read Note 19, Collaborative and Other Relationships, to our consolidated financial statements included in this report.
Eisai Collaboration Agreements
LEQEMBI (lecanemab) Collaboration Agreement
In January 2023 we and Eisai announced that the FDA granted accelerated approval of LEQEMBI, an anti-amyloid antibody for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Additionally, in January 2023 we and Eisai announced the completed submission of a supplemental BLA to the FDA for traditional approval of LEQEMBI.
In January 2023 the EMA accepted for review the MAA for lecanemab.
In January 2023 Eisai completed the submission of a MAA to the PMDA in Japan for lecanemab, and was granted Priority Review by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
In December 2022 Eisai initiated a rolling submission of a BLA to the NMPA of China for the approval of lecanemab.
In March 2022 we extended our supply agreement with Eisai related to LEQEMBI from five years to ten years for the manufacture of LEQEMBI drug substance.
ADUHELM Collaboration Agreement
On March 14, 2022, we amended our ADUHELM Collaboration Agreement with Eisai. As of the amendment date, we have sole decision making and commercialization rights worldwide on ADUHELM, and beginning January 1, 2023, Eisai receives only a tiered royalty based on net sales of ADUHELM, and no longer participates in sharing ADUHELM's global profits and losses. Eisai's share of development, commercialization and manufacturing expense was limited to $335.0 million for the period from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022, which was achieved as of December 31, 2022. Once this limit was achieved, we became responsible for all ADUHELM related costs.
For additional information on our collaboration arrangements with Eisai, please read Note 19, Collaborative and Other Relationships, to our consolidated financial statements included in this report.
50
Table of Contents
Zuranolone (BIIB125)
In June 2022 we and our collaboration partner Sage announced that the Phase 3 SKYLARK study of zuranolone, for the potential treatment of MDD and PPD, met its primary and all key secondary endpoints.
In December 2022 we and Sage completed the rolling submission of a NDA to the FDA for the approval of zuranolone for the potential treatment of MDD and PPD. This submission completes the NDA filing initiated earlier in 2022.
In February 2023 the FDA accepted the NDA and granted Priority Review for zuranolone, with a PDUFA action date of August 5, 2023.
For additional information on our collaboration arrangement with Sage, please read Note 19, Collaborative and Other Relationships, to our consolidated financial statements included in this report.
Genentech
LUNSUMIO (mosunetuzumab)
In January 2022 we exercised our option with Genentech to participate in the joint development and commercialization of LUNSUMIO (mosunetuzumab), a bispecific antibody for the treatment of relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma. In connection with this exercise, we recorded a $30.0 million option exercise fee payable to Genentech in December 2021.
In December 2022 Genentech announced that the FDA granted accelerated approval of LUNSUMIO, which was also approved by the EC in June 2022.
Glofitamab
In December 2022 we reached an agreement with Genentech related to the commercialization and sharing of economics for glofitamab, an investigational T-cell engaging bispecific antibody targeting CD20 and CD3 for the potential treatment of B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
For additional information on our collaboration arrangements with Genentech, please read Note 19, Collaborative and Other Relationships, to our consolidated financial statements included in this report.
Other Collaborative Relationships
Alcyone Therapeutics
In December 2022 we entered into a license and collaboration agreement with Alcyone to jointly develop the ThecaFlex DRxTM System, an implantable medical device intended for subcutaneous delivery of ASO therapies with a goal of improving the patient treatment experience and accessibility for people suffering from neurological disorders, such as SMA and ALS. Under the terms of this collaboration, we
and Alcyone will jointly develop the ThecaFlex DRxTM System and Alcyone will be solely responsible for its manufacture and commercialization. In connection with this transaction, we made an upfront payment of $10.0 million to Alcyone.
Other Key Developments
Tofersen (BIIB067)
In July 2022 we announced that the FDA accepted the NDA and granted Priority Review for tofersen, an investigational antisense drug being evaluated for people with SOD1 ALS, which currently has a PDUFA action date of April 25, 2023. In December 2022 the EMA accepted for review the MAA for tofersen.
BIIB800 (referencing ACTEMRA)
In September 2022 we and our collaboration partner Bio-Thera announced that the EMA accepted for review the MAA for BIIB800, a proposed tocilizumab biosimilar referencing ACTEMRA, an anti-interleukin-6 receptor monoclonal antibody, for the treatment of severe, active and progressive rheumatoid arthritis. In December 2022 the FDA accepted for review the abbreviated BLA for BIIB800.
BIIB122 (DNL151)
In October 2022 we and our collaboration partnerDenali announced the initiation of the Phase 3 LIGHTHOUSE study of BIIB122 for the potential treatment of Parkinson's disease.
For additional information on our collaboration arrangement with Denali, please read Note 19, Collaborative and Other Relationships, to our consolidated financial statements included in this report.
Corporate Matters
Samsung Bioepis - Biogen's Joint Venture with Samsung BioLogics
In April 2022 we completed the sale of our 49.9% equity interest in Samsung Bioepis to Samsung BioLogics. Under the terms of this transaction, we received approximately $1.0 billion in cash at closing and expect to receive approximately $1.3 billion in cash to be deferred over two payments of approximately $812.5 million due at the first anniversary and approximately $437.5 million due at the second anniversary of the closing of this transaction.
As part of this transaction, we are also eligible to receive up to an additional $50.0 million upon the achievement of certain commercial milestones. Our policy for contingent payments of this nature is to recognize the payments in the period that they become realizable, which is generally the same period in which the payments are earned.
51
Table of Contents
For additional information on the sale of our equity interest in Samsung Bioepis, please read Note 3, Dispositions, to our consolidated financial statements included in this report.
2022 Cost Saving Initiatives
In December 2021 and May 2022 we announced our plans to implement a series of cost-reduction measures that when completed we expect may yield approximately $1.0 billion in expense savings. These savings are being achieved through a number of initiatives, including reductions to our workforce, the substantial elimination of our commercial ADUHELM infrastructure, the consolidation of certain real estate locations and operating efficiency gains across our selling, general and administrative and research and development functions.
Under these initiatives, we estimate we will incur total restructuring charges of approximately $131.0 million, primarily related to severance. These amounts were substantially incurred during 2022. As of December 31, 2022, approximately $35.9 million remained in our restructuring reserve and payments are expected to be made through 2026.
For additional information on our 2022 cost saving initiatives, please read Note 4, Restructuring, to our consolidated financial statements included in this report.
Senior Note Redemption
In July 2022 we redeemed our 3.625% Senior Notes totaling $1.0 billion in aggregate principal amount prior to their maturity on September 15, 2022.
For additional information on the redemption of our Senior Notes, please read Note 13, Indebtedness, to our consolidated financial statements included in this report.
125 Broadway Sale and Leaseback Transaction
In September 2022 we completed the sale of our building and land parcel located at 125 Broadway for an aggregate sales price of approximately $603.0 million, which is inclusive of a $10.8 million tenant allowance. Simultaneously, with the close of this transaction we leased back the building for a term of approximately 5.5 years.
For additional information on our 125 Broadway sale and leaseback transaction, please read Note 11, Property, Plant and Equipment and Note 12, Leases, to our consolidated financial statements included in this report.
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Revenue
Revenue is summarized as follows:
For the Years Ended December 31, % Change $ Change
Product revenue, net:
52
Table of Contents
Product Revenue
Product revenue is summarized as follows:
For the Years Ended December 31, % Change $ Change
Multiple Sclerosis (MS):
Spinal Muscular Atrophy:
Biosimilars:
BYOOVIZ(2) 4.3 — — nm — 4.3 —
Other:
(1)VUMERITY became commercially available in the E.U. during the fourth quarter of 2021.
(2) BYOOVIZ launched in the U.S. in June 2022 and became commercially available during the third quarter of 2022.
nm Not meaningful
53
Table of Contents
Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
Fumarate
Fumarate revenue includes sales from TECFIDERA and VUMERITY. During the fourth quarter of 2021 VUMERITY was approved for the treatment of RRMS in the E.U., Switzerland and the U.K.
For 2022 compared to 2021, the 13.8% decrease in U.S. Fumarate revenue was primarily due to a decrease in TECFIDERA demand as a result of multiple TECFIDERA generic entrants in the U.S. market, partially offset by net price increases in TECFIDERA driven by lower pharmacy rebates, managed care rebates and co-pay assistance as well as an increase in VUMERITY sales volumes.
For 2022 compared to 2021, the 16.9% decrease in rest of world Fumarate revenue was primarily due to TECFIDERA pricing reductions and a decrease in TECFIDERA demand as multiple TECFIDERA generic entrants entered into markets such as Germany and Canada. The decrease was also driven by the unfavorable impact of foreign currency exchange, partially offset by an increase in VUMERITY sales volumes.
In the E.U., we are seeking to enforce a patent granted in June 2022 that relates to TECFIDERA and expires in 2028. In addition, we are litigating to affirm that TECFIDERA is entitled to regulatory data and market protection until at least February 2024. Our Company, the EMA and the EC have each appealed the May 2021 decision of the European General Court, which annulled the EMA's decision not to
validate an application for approval of a TECFIDERA generic on the basis that the EMA and EC conducted the wrong assessment when determining TECFIDERA's entitlement to regulatory data and marketing protection. Our Company, the EMA and the EC have each appealed the General Court’s decision as wrongly decided and the appeal is pending. On October 6, 2022, the Advocate General of the CJEU issued a nonbinding advisory opinion in Biogen's favor. This opinion recommends that the CJEU set aside the judgment of the European General Court. We are awaiting the decision of the CJEU.
For additional information, please read Note 21, Litigation, to our consolidated financial statements included in this report.
We expect that TECFIDERA revenue will continue to decline in 2023, compared to 2022, as a result of generic competition in the North America, Latin America and certain E.U. countries.
We expect an increase in VUMERITY sales volumes in 2023, compared to 2022, mostly due to demand growth in the U.S. and select European markets. We believe that we have resolved previously reported manufacturing issues at our contract manufacturer. In addition, we are in the process of securing regulatory approval for a secondary source of supply. We do not anticipate a supply shortage in 2023 and are currently focused on rebuilding adequate inventory.
54
Table of Contents
Interferon
For 2022 compared to 2021, the 18.9% decrease in U.S. Interferon revenue was primarily due to a decrease in Interferon sales volumes of 15.5%. The net decline in sales volumes reflects the continued decline of the Interferon market as patients transition to higher efficacy and oral MS therapies.
For 2022 compared to 2021, the 12.9% decrease in rest of world Interferon revenue was primarily due to a decrease in Interferon sales volumes of 6.0% resulting from the continued decline of the Interferon market as patients transition to higher efficacy and oral MS therapies, as well as the unfavorable impact of foreign currency exchange.
We expect that Interferon revenue will continue to decline in both the U.S. and rest of world markets in 2023, compared to 2022, as a result of increasing competition from other MS products.
TYSABRI
For 2022 compared to 2021, U.S. TYSABRI revenue was relatively flat, with a modest decrease in sales volumes, partially offset by an increase in pricing, net of higher discounts and allowances.
For 2022 compared to 2021, rest of world TYSABRI revenue was relatively flat, with a modest decrease in pricing and the unfavorable impact of foreign currency exchange, partially offset by an increase in sales volumes.
We anticipate TYSABRI revenue to be relatively flat on a global basis in 2023, compared to 2022, despite increasing competition from additional treatments for MS. We expect to continue to face price reductions in certain European markets. We are also aware of a potential biosimilar entrant of TYSABRI that may enter the U.S. and European markets as early as 2023.
55
Table of Contents
Spinal Muscular Atrophy
SPINRAZA
For 2022 compared to 2021, U.S. SPINRAZA revenue was relatively flat, with a modest increase in sales volumes of 3.7%, resulting from the timing of shipments, partially offset by higher discounts and allowances.
For 2022 compared to 2021, the 9.4% decrease in rest of world SPINRAZA revenue was primarily due to country mix, the unfavorable impact of foreign currency exchange and the timing of shipments, partially offset by an increase in sales volumes. The increase in sales volumes reflects growth in certain Asian markets, partially offset by a decrease in sales volumes from increased competition in certain established markets, particularly Germany and Japan.
Despite competition from a gene therapy product and an oral product, we anticipate SPINRAZA revenue to be relatively flat in 2023, compared to 2022. Moderate growth in the U.S. as well as continued access expansion in emerging markets is expected to offset increased competition and the impact of loading dose dynamics.
For additional information on our collaboration arrangements with Ionis, please read Note 19, Collaborative and Other Relationships, to our consolidated financial statements included in this report.
Biosimilars
BENEPALI, IMRALDI, FLIXABI and BYOOVIZ
During the third quarter of 2021 BYOOVIZ, a ranibizumab biosimilar referencing LUCENTIS, was approved in the U.S., the E.U and the U.K. BYOOVIZ launched in the U.S. in June 2022 and became commercially available in July 2022 through major distributors in the U.S.
For 2022 compared to 2021, the 9.6% decrease in biosimilar revenue was primarily due to unfavorable pricing and the unfavorable impact of foreign currency exchange, partially offset by an increase in sales volumes.
We anticipate modest growth in revenue from our biosimilars business in 2023, compared to 2022, driven by the continued launch of BYOOVIZ in the U.S. and rest of world, offset in part by continued price reductions in certain markets.
We are currently working with our contract manufacturer for IMRALDI to address facility regulatory inspection deficiencies at two filling locations, which could impact supply and have an adverse impact on 2023 IMRALDI sales, if not resolved. Manufacturing of BENEPALI also utilizes one of these facilities and therefore could have an adverse impact on 2023 BENEPALI sales. We are working with our existing secondary supplier for BENEPALI with the aim to secure additional capacity.
56
Table of Contents
For additional information on our collaboration arrangements with Samsung Bioepis, please read Note 19, Collaborative and Other Relationships, to our consolidated financial statements included in this report.
Revenue from Anti-CD20 Therapeutic Programs
Genentech (Roche Group)
Our share of RITUXAN, including RITUXAN HYCELA, and GAZYVA collaboration operating profits in the U.S., royalty revenue on sales of OCREVUS and other revenue from anti-CD20 therapeutic programs are summarized in the table below. For purposes of this discussion, we refer to RITUXAN and RITUXAN HYCELA collectively as RITUXAN.
Biogen’s Share of Pre-tax Profits in the U.S. for RITUXAN and GAZYVA
The following table provides a summary of amounts comprising our share of pre-tax profits in the U.S. for RITUXAN and GAZYVA:
For the Years Ended December 31,
For 2022 compared to 2021, the decrease in U.S. product revenue, net was primarily due to a decrease in sales volumes of RITUXAN in the U.S. of
28.4%, primarily due to the onset of competition from multiple biosimilar products.
For 2022 compared to 2021, the decrease in collaboration costs and expense was primarily due to lower cost of sales, selling and marketing expense, distribution costs and other costs and expense related to RITUXAN.
We are aware of several other anti-CD20 molecules, including biosimilar products, that have been approved and are competing with RITUXAN and GAZYVA in the oncology and other markets. Biosimilar products referencing RITUXAN have launched in the U.S and are being offered at lower prices. This competition has had a significant adverse impact on the pre-tax profits of our collaboration arrangements with Genentech, as the sales of RITUXAN have decreased substantially compared to prior periods. We expect that biosimilar competition will continue to increase as these products capture additional market share and that this will have a significant adverse impact on our co-promotion profits in the U.S. in future years.
Royalty Revenue on Sales of OCREVUS
For 2022 compared to 2021, the increase in royalty revenue on sales of OCREVUS was primarily due to sales growth of OCREVUS in the U.S.
OCREVUS royalty revenue is based on our estimates from third party and market research data of OCREVUS sales occurring during the corresponding period. Differences between actual and estimated royalty revenue will be adjusted for in the period in which they become known, which is generally expected to be the following quarter.
Other Revenue from Anti-CD20 Therapeutic Programs
Other revenue from anti-CD20 therapeutic programs consists of our share of pre-tax co-promotion profits from RITUXAN in Canada.
In December 2022 the FDA approved LUNSUMIO, a bispecific antibody for the treatment of relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma. Our share of pre-tax profits and losses on LUNSUMIO will be included as a component of revenue from anti-CD20 therapeutic programs in our consolidated statements of income. For the year ended December 31, 2022, LUNSUMIO revenue was immaterial.
For additional information on our collaboration arrangements with Genentech, including information regarding the pre-tax profit-sharing formula and its impact on future revenue from anti-CD20 therapeutic programs, please read Note 19, Collaborative and Other Relationships, to our consolidated financial statements included in this report.
57
Table of Contents
Other Revenue
Other revenue consists of royalty revenue and contract manufacturing and other revenue and is summarized as follows:
Royalty Revenue and Contract Manufacturing and Other Revenue
Contract Manufacturing and Other Revenue
We record contract manufacturing and other revenue primarily from amounts earned under contract manufacturing agreements.
For 2022 compared to 2021, the decrease in contract manufacturing and other revenue was primarily due to lower contract manufacturing revenue related to the timing of batch releases.
Royalty Revenue
We receive royalties from net sales on products related to patents that we have out-licensed, as well as royalty revenue on biosimilar products from our collaboration arrangements with Samsung Bioepis.
For additional information on our collaborative arrangements with Samsung Bioepis, please read Note 19, Collaborative and Other Relationships, to our consolidated financial statements included in this report.
Reserves for Discounts and Allowances
Revenue from product sales is recorded net of reserves established for applicable discounts and
allowances, including those associated with the implementation of pricing actions in certain international markets where we operate.
These reserves are based on estimates of the amounts earned or to be claimed on the related sales and are classified as reductions of accounts receivable (if the amount is payable to our customer) or a liability (if the amount is payable to a party other than our customer). These estimates reflect our historical experience, current contractual and statutory requirements, specific known market events and trends, industry data and forecasted customer buying and payment patterns. Actual amounts may ultimately differ from our estimates. If actual results vary, we adjust these estimates, which could have an effect on earnings in the period of adjustment.
Reserves for discounts, contractual adjustments and returns that reduced gross product revenue are summarized as follows:
58
Table of Contents
For the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, reserves for discounts and allowances as a percentage of gross product revenue were 30.1%, 28.6% and 27.1%, respectively.
Discounts
Discounts include trade term discounts and wholesaler incentives.
For 2022 compared to 2021, the decrease in discounts was primarily due to a decrease in gross sales, driven by lower TECFIDERA sales, offset by higher purchase discounts for TYSABRI.
Contractual Adjustments
Contractual adjustments primarily relate to Medicaid and managed care rebates in the U.S., pharmacy rebates, co-payment (copay) assistance, Veterans Administration, 340B discounts, specialty pharmacy program fees and other government rebates or applicable allowances.
For 2022 compared to 2021, the decrease in contractual adjustments was primarily driven by lower
TECFIDERA sales in the U.S., resulting in lower pharmacy rebates, Medicaid rebates and managed care rebates, as well as lower Medicaid rebates in the U.S. driven by a favorable change in estimates for VUMERITY.
Returns
Product return reserves are established for returns made by wholesalers. In accordance with contractual terms, wholesalers are permitted to return product for reasons such as damaged or expired product. The majority of wholesaler returns are due to product expiration. Provisions for product returns are recognized in the period the related revenue is recognized, resulting in a reduction to product sales.
For 2022 compared to 2021, return reserves were relatively consistent.
For additional information on our revenue reserves, please read Note 5, Revenue, to our consolidated financial statements included in this report.
Cost and Expense
A summary of total cost and expense is as follows:
For the Years Ended December 31, % Change $ Change
Restructuring charges 131.1 — — nm — 131.1 —
Gain on sale of building (503.7) — — nm — (503.7) —
nm Not meaningful
59
Table of Contents
Cost of Sales, Excluding Amortization and Impairment of Acquired Intangible Assets
Cost of sales, as a percentage of total revenue, were 22.4%, 19.2% and 13.4% for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively.
Product Cost of Sales
For 2022 compared to 2021, the increase in product cost of sales was primarily due to higher charges in 2022 associated with the write-off of excess ADUHELM inventory and purchase commitments, higher gross idle capacity charges associated with our manufacturing facilities and increased product cost of sales driven by product mix.
Inventory amounts written down as a result of excess, obsolescence or unmarketability totaled $336.2 million, $167.6 million and $26.6 million for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively.
For the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, we recorded approximately $286.0 million and $170.0 million, respectively, of charges associated with the write-off of ADUHELM inventory and purchase commitments in excess of forecasted demand.
For the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, we recorded approximately $119.0 million and $48.0 million, respectively, of aggregate gross idle capacity charges.
We have also recognized approximately $197.0 million and $99.0 million related to Eisai's 45.0% share of inventory, idle capacity charges and contractual commitments, which was recorded in collaboration profit (loss) sharing within our consolidated statements of income for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.
For additional information on our collaboration arrangements with Eisai, please read Note 19, Collaborative and Other Relationships, to our consolidated financial statements included in this report.
Royalty Cost of Sales
For 2022 compared to 2021, the decrease in royalty cost of sales was primarily due to lower royalties payable on lower sales of SPINRAZA, TYSABRI and AVONEX, partially offset by higher royalties payable on higher sales of VUMERITY.
Research and Development
60
Table of Contents
We support our drug discovery and development efforts through the commitment of significant resources to discovery, research and development programs and business development opportunities.
A significant amount of our research and development costs consist of indirect costs incurred in support of overall research and development activities and non-specific programs, including activities that benefit multiple programs, such as management costs, as well as depreciation, information technology and facility-based expenses. These costs are considered other research and development costs in the table above and are not allocated to a specific program or stage.
Research and development expense incurred in support of our marketed products includes costs associated with product lifecycle management activities including, if applicable, costs associated with the development of new indications for existing products. Late stage programs are programs in Phase 3 development or in registration stage. Early stage programs are programs in Phase 1 or Phase 2 development. Research and discovery represents costs incurred to support our discovery research and translational science efforts. Costs are reflected in the development stage based upon the program status when incurred. Therefore, the same program could be reflected in different development stages in the same year. For several of our programs, the research and development activities are part of our collaborative and other relationships. Our costs reflect our share of the total costs incurred.
For 2022 compared to 2021, the decrease in research and development expense was primarily due to higher milestone payments in 2021, partially offset by the advancement of BIIB059 (anti-BDCA2) for the potential treatment of SLE and CLE, the development of LUNSUMIO, a a bispecific antibody for the treatment of relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma, the development of BIIB124 (SAGE-324) for the potential treatment of essential tremor, which we are developing in collaboration with Sage, the development of BIIB122 (DNL151) for the potential treatment of Parkinson's disease, which we are developing in collaboration with Denali, and the development of BIIB800, a proposed tocilizumab biosimilar referencing ACTEMRA.
Excluding upfront payments, we expect our core research and development expense to modestly increase in 2023, as we continue to invest in our pipeline. We intend to continue committing significant resources to targeted research and development opportunities where there is a significant unmet need and where a drug candidate has the potential to be highly differentiated.
Milestone and Upfront Expense
Research and development expense for 2022 includes:
•$37.0 million in charges to research and development expense in connection with milestone payments to Ionis;
•$15.0 million charge to research and development expense in connection with the upfront payment associated with entering into our collaboration with Alectos in the second quarter of 2022; and
•$10.0 million charge to research and development expense in connection with the upfront payment associated with entering into
61
Table of Contents
our collaboration with Alcyone in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Research and development expense for 2021 includes:
•$125.0 million charge to research and development expense in connection with the upfront payment associated with entering into our collaboration with InnoCare in the third quarter of 2021;
•$60.0 million charge to research and development expense upon the exercise of our option under our collaboration agreement with Ionis to develop and commercialize BIIB115, an investigational ASO in development for SMA;
•$30.0 million charge to research and development expense related to the option exercise fee payable to Genentech to jointly develop and commercialize LUNSUMIO; and
•$30.0 million charge to research and development expense in connection with the upfront payment associated with entering into a commercialization and license agreement with Bio-Thera to develop, manufacture and commercialize BIIB800.
The upfront payments associated with these collaborations are classified as research and development expense as the programs they relate to had not achieved regulatory approval as of the payment date.
For additional information about these collaboration arrangements, please read Note 19, Collaborative and Other Relationships, to our consolidated financial statements included in this report.
Early Stage Programs
For 2022 compared to 2021, the decrease in spending related to our early stage programs was primarily due to a decrease in costs associated with:
•the discontinuation of cinpanemab (BIIB054) in Parkinson's disease;
•the discontinuation of gosuranemab (BIIB092) in Alzheimer's disease;
•the discontinuation of cotoretigene toliparvovec (BIIB112) in X-linked retinitis pigmentosa;
•the advancement of litifilimab (BIIB059) for the potential treatment of SLE into late stage;
•the advancement of BIIB122 for the potential treatment of Parkinson's disease into late stage;
•the discontinuation of vixotrigine (BIIB074) in TGN and DPN; and
•the discontinuation of BIIB078 for the potential treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
The decrease was partially offset by an increase in costs associated with:
•an increase in spending in the development of BIIB124 for the potential treatment of essential tremor;
•an increase in spending in the development of litifilimab (BIIB059) for the potential treatment of CLE;
•an increase in spending in the development of BIIB113 for the potential treatment of Alzheimer's disease;
•an increase in spending in the development of BIIB131 for the potential treatment of acute ischemic stroke; and
•an increase in spending in the development of BIIB121 for the potential treatment of Angelman syndrome.
Late Stage Programs
For 2022 compared to 2021, the decrease in spending associated with our late stage programs was primarily due to a decrease in costs associated with:
•the advancement of ADUHELM from late stage to marketed upon the accelerated approval of ADUHELM in the U.S.; and
•the discontinuation of BIIB111 in choroideremia.
The decrease was partially offset by an increase in costs associated with:
•the advancement of litifilimab (BIIB059) for the potential treatment of SLE into late stage;
•the advancement of BIIB122 for the potential treatment of Parkinson's disease into late stage; and
•the advancement of BIIB800, a proposed tocilizumab biosimilar referencing ACTEMRA, into late stage.
Marketed Programs
For 2022 compared to 2021, the increase in spending associated with our marketed programs was primarily due to an increase in costs associated with:
•the advancement of ADUHELM from late stage to marketed upon the accelerated approval of ADUHELM in the U.S.; and
•the advancement of LUNSUMIO from late stage to marketed upon the accelerated approval of LUNSUMIO in the U.S.