Biogen has a new face for BD.
Biogen announced Tuesday morning that Adam Keaney will join the company as head of corporate development, after four years as CEO of UK biotech NodThera. We are focused on pursuing external collaborations and other growth opportunities,” Biogen CEO Chris Bebacker said in a statement.
Citing a hire date of April 17, Keaney declined to comment on his hiring on Tuesday.
Tuesday marks the latest personnel changes as Viehbacher continues to pull Biogen past a difficult period defined by the Alzheimer’s drug debacle. In January, following Al Sandrock’s resignation, Wiebacher split R&D into two functions, appointing Priya Singhal as Head of Development and Interim Head of Research until a permanent option could be found.
Keeney will start soon, but it remains unclear how soon he will start, with the collaboration front outlined for him in a prepared statement by Viehbacher. At his JPMorgan conference earlier this year, Viehbacher suggested that Biogen will approach business development much more carefully than it has in the past.
Strictly speaking about M&A in San Francisco, Viehbacher told the audience that the deal probably won’t happen until later this year. At Biogen’s #JPM2023 presentation, he said, “No acquisition will take place unless the house is tidy.
According to a Biogen press release, Keaney ran all BD activities for Sanofi Genzyme prior to NodThera. Also, previously he had many BD roles in J&J.
