Biogen confirms closure of Biogen Digital Well being, retreat from Apple Examine

Multinational biotechnology firm Biogen has confirmed it would shut down Biogen Digital Well being, a worldwide unit of the biotech firm, and pull out of a research with Apple. Nonetheless, the corporate says it would proceed to combine some digital capabilities into different features of its enterprise. 

“As our CEO Chris Viehbacher talked about when he introduced Match for Development, a part of the initiative is eradicating layers within the group, turning into much less advanced and extra agile, and making strategic investments in inside and exterior innovation. Because of this, some features are evolving their working fashions,” a Biogen spokesperson instructed MobiHealthNews in an electronic mail. 

Biogen Digital Well being launched in 2021, and it employs round 150 individuals in Boston, Zurich and Paris. The corporate focuses on merging biology and expertise 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 improvement engine and its industrial operations. 

“Biogen Digital Well being is evolving. We’re presently assessing our digital technique and potential future investments within the area, and we will probably be integrating sure digital capabilities from BDH into related features. We are going to proceed to advance a variety of efforts, similar to improvement of digital biomarkers for Parkinson’s and early AD [Alzheimer’s disease], in addition to our digital options for uncommon illnesses. Going ahead, we are going to leverage exterior capabilities and partnerships to seize advances within the discipline which can be intently linked to our evolving R&D and industrial priorities and areas of focus,” the spokesperson stated. 

In 2021, the corporate started a research with Apple to investigate iPhone and Apple Watch sensor knowledge 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 research with Apple, although it has been discontinued on account of Biogen’s R&D prioritization efforts, due to the higher-than-expected stage of engagement of members, the research stays effectively positioned to deal with its major aims. Preliminary outcomes assist 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 will probably be printed at a later time,” Biogen instructed MobiHealthNews. 

THE LARGER TREND

Biogen introduced it accomplished 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 therapy for Friedreich’s ataxia within the U.S.