Sale of Biogen not necessarily bad for Massachusetts

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. Sources believe there is a very good chance that biotech company Biogen will be sold, but that does not necessarily mean a hit to the Massachusetts’s economy, according to boston.com

The problem is that, there are a lot of holdups depending on who buys the company and with contracts the company has right now with other companies concerning some of its drugs.

Elan and Biogen have an agreement on the multiple sclerosis drug Tysarbi, which states that if Biogen is bought, the company has the right to acquire Biogen’s interest in the treatment. The same goes for Genentech with the drug Rituxen, a treatment for non-Hodgkins lymphoma and rheumatoid arthritis.

Also, if Biogen is purchased, whoever acquires it may decide to break up the company. Pfizer, one of the companies interested in buying Biogen already has its own research centers and sales force and would therefore not need to keep Biogen going at full force. It remains to be seen what the company, if it even decided to go up for sale at all.