Multinational biotechnology firm Biogen has confirmed it’ll shut down Biogen Digital Health, a worldwide unit of the biotech firm, and pull out of a examine with Apple. Nonetheless, the corporate says it’ll proceed to combine some digital capabilities into different features of its enterprise.
“As our CEO Chris Viehbacher talked about when he announced Fit for Growth, a part of the initiative is eradicating layers within the group, turning into much less complicated and extra agile, and making strategic investments in inner and exterior innovation. In consequence, some features are evolving their working fashions,” a Biogen spokesperson advised MobiHealthNews in an electronic mail.
Biogen Digital Well being launched in 2021, and it employs round 150 folks in Boston, Zurich and Paris. The corporate focuses on merging biology and know-how to enhance neurology, immunology and psychological well being care.
The biotech big stated digital drugs and well being applied sciences will stay a necessary a part of its plan to de-risk and speed up its analysis and growth engine and its business operations.
“Biogen Digital Well being is evolving. We’re presently assessing our digital technique and potential future investments within the house, and we can be integrating sure digital capabilities from BDH into related features. We are going to proceed to advance a variety of efforts, comparable to growth of digital biomarkers for Parkinson’s and early AD [Alzheimer’s disease], in addition to our digital options for uncommon illnesses. Going ahead, we’ll leverage exterior capabilities and partnerships to seize advances within the discipline which are intently linked to our evolving R&D and business priorities and areas of focus,” the spokesperson stated.
In 2021, the corporate started a study with Apple to research iPhone and Apple Watch sensor information and metrics to distinguish people with regular cognition from these with delicate cognitive impairment to create a cognitive wellness rating that follows shifts in cognitive efficiency over time.
“Relating to the Instinct examine with Apple, although it has been discontinued as a result of Biogen’s R&D prioritization efforts, due to the higher-than-expected stage of engagement of individuals, the examine stays properly positioned to deal with its major goals. Preliminary outcomes help the feasibility, acceptability and functionality to succeed in underserved and underrepresented populations and to reliably measure cognition and conduct in real-world unsupervised settings. Further insights from the Examine can be revealed at a later time,” Biogen advised MobiHealthNews.
THE LARGER TREND
Biogen announced it completed its acquisition of California-based pharma firm Reata earlier this week for a reported $7.3 billion. The acquisition provides SKYCLARYS to the corporate’s uncommon illness portfolio, the one FDA-approved remedy for Friedreich’s ataxia within the U.S.