Biogen Appoints Jane Grogan as Head of Research

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Sept. 06, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Biogen Inc. (Nasdaq: BIIB) announced the appointment of Jane Grogan, Ph.D., as Executive Vice President, Head of Research effective 2 October 2023. Dr. Grogan will be a member of Biogen’s Executive Committee reporting to Christopher A. Viehbacher, President and Chief Executive Officer.

“Dr. Grogan is a pioneering scientist whose groundbreaking discoveries at Genentech helped pave the way for development of targeted autoimmune and oncology therapies. I believe Jane will be a strong asset to Biogen as we seek to bring a greater number of innovative medicines to market faster and more effectively,” said Mr. Viehbacher. “Together with Dr. Priya Singhal, EVP and Head of Development, she will determine the company’s portfolio strategy with the aim of creating value and making decisions aligned with our scientific expertise and translational capabilities.”

Jane Grogan brings nearly two decades of experience leading biotech research, including fifteen years with Genentech. Dr. Grogan most recently served as the Chief Scientific Officer at Graphite Bio, a cell and gene editing company. Prior to this, she served as Chief Scientific Officer at ArsenalBio, a privately held programmable T cell therapy company, responsible for research, discovery and preclinical pipeline, including development for the company’s first product candidate.

During her time at Genentech, Dr. Grogan served in a number of increasingly senior roles across Immunology and Immuno-oncology, covering research strategies and drug development across RA, Lupus, MS, IBD and Cancer. As Head of Adaptive Tumor Immunity and Principal Scientist in Cancer Immunology Discovery Research at Genentech, Dr. Grogan’s research primarily delved into mechanisms of T cell activation, tolerance-induction, and epigenetic modifiers, adopting an integrative methodology combining bioinformatics, biology, and diagnostics. Her laboratory identified crucial regulators of both effector and regulatory T cells and progressed several targets into clinical trials for autoimmune and oncology indications, such as anti-lymphotoxin alpha for rheumatoid arthritis and anti-TIGIT for cancer immunotherapy. At Genentech, Dr. Grogan also integrated strategy between Early Discovery Research, Clinical Development, and Business Development and was project leader for engineered T cell therapies.

During her career, Dr. Grogan has published more than 60 papers in a wide array of journals and is listed as inventor on more than 20 patents. She received her Bachelor of Science at the University of Melbourne, Australia, earned her PhD in Immunology from Leiden University, The Netherlands, and underwent post-doctoral training as an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow at the DRFZ in Berlin and as a Howard Hughes Fellow at the University of California, San Francisco.

About Biogen
Founded in 1978, Biogen is a leading global biotechnology company that has pioneered multiple breakthrough innovations including a broad portfolio of medicines to treat multiple sclerosis, the first approved treatment for spinal muscular atrophy, and two co-developed treatments to address a defining pathology of Alzheimer’s disease. Biogen is advancing a pipeline of potential novel therapies across neurology, neuropsychiatry, specialized immunology and rare diseases and remains acutely focused on its purpose of serving humanity through science while advancing a healthier, more sustainable and equitable world.

We routinely post information that may be important to investors on our website at www.biogen.com. Follow us on social media - X, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube.

Biogen Safe Harbor 
This news release contains forward-looking statements, including statements relating to our business activities; our strategy and plans and the potential of our commercial business and pipeline programs; capital allocation and investment strategy. These forward-looking statements may be accompanied by such words as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “project,” “target,” “will” and other words and terms of similar meaning. You should not place undue reliance on these statements.

These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in such statements, including: our dependence on sales from our products; uncertainty of long-term success in developing, licensing, or acquiring other product candidates or additional indications for existing products; failure to compete effectively due to significant product competition in the markets for our products; failure to successfully execute or realize the anticipated benefits of our strategic and growth initiatives; difficulties in obtaining and maintaining adequate coverage, pricing, and reimbursement for our products; our dependence on collaborators, joint venture partners, and other third parties for the development, regulatory approval, and commercialization of products and other aspects of our business, which are outside of our full control; the potential impact of the conflict in Ukraine; risks associated with current and potential future healthcare reforms; risks related to commercialization of biosimilars; risks relating to the distribution and sale by third parties of counterfeit or unfit versions of our products; risks relating to the use of social media for our business; failure to obtain, protect, and enforce our data, intellectual property, and other proprietary rights and the risks and uncertainties relating to intellectual property claims and challenges; the risk that positive results in a clinical trial may not be replicated in subsequent or confirmatory trials or success in early stage clinical trials may not be predictive of results in later stage or large scale clinical trials or trials in other potential indications; risks associated with clinical trials, including our ability to adequately manage clinical activities, unexpected concerns that may arise from additional data or analysis obtained during clinical trials, regulatory authorities may require additional information or further studies, or may fail to approve or may delay approval of our drug candidates; the occurrence of adverse safety events, restrictions on use with our products, or product liability claims; risks relating to technology failures or breaches; problems with our manufacturing processes; risks relating to management and personnel changes, including attracting and retaining personnel; failure to comply with legal and regulatory requirements; the risks of doing business internationally, including currency exchange rate fluctuations; risks relating to investment in our manufacturing capacity; the direct and indirect impacts of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on our business, results of operations, and financial condition; fluctuations in our operating results; risks related to investment in properties; the market, interest, and credit risks associated with our investment portfolio; risks relating to share repurchase programs; risks relating to access to capital and credit markets; risks related to indebtedness; change in control provisions in certain of our collaboration agreements; fluctuations in our effective tax rate; environmental risks; and any other risks and uncertainties that are described in other reports we have filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

This news release speaks only as of the date of this press release. We do not undertake any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements.