Biogen Idec to Hire 100 New Staffers for RTP Ops

January 30, 2015
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff

RALEIGH, N.C. – Coming on the heels of strong fourth quarter numbers, Biogen Idec , a leading manufacturer of multiple sclerosis medications, announced Friday it will create 100 new jobs at its Research Park Triangle facility.

The new positions include manufacturing associates, engineers and quality assurance technicians. The new positions are for the biologics facility in Morrisville, N.C. and the solid dose facility in Durham, N.C. Biogen Idec currently employs about 1,300 in Research Triangle Park.

Over the past three years the company has grown both employment and revenue by 50 percent. Biogen reported strong growth in 2014 with $9.7 billion in revenue, up 40 percent over 2013. CEO George Scangos touted the strong growth over 2014 to the “growth of TECFIDERA in world markets” and “the improved performance of TYSABRI.” Additionally Scangos said he expects 2015 to be another strong year for Biogen.

Scangos also touted Biogen’s work in the treatment of hemophilia A and B. To further such treatment, the company entered into a research deal with the San Raffaele-Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy (TIGET) to develop a durable treatment for hemophilia. The gene therapy research could dramatically change the way the disease is currently treated. Hemophilia is an inherited bleeding disorder in which the blood does not clot properly, according to the U.S. Center for Disease Control. People with hemophilia often require life-long treatment.

Earlier this week Biogen and Internet giant Google Inc.’s life science division Google X teamed up to closely research and address environmental and genetic factors that can cause the debilitating disease. The study will take a proactive examination of the factors that may cause multiple sclerosis to “understand disease at its onset” and see if early intervention is possible, Andre Conrad, head of Google X, the company’s life sciences division, said in a released statement. Data gathered will help Biogen create more effective medications to combat MS.

Cambridge, Mass.-based Biogen is one of the leading MS drug makers with medications such as Avonex and Tysabri. In 2013 the U.S. government approved Tecfidera, Biogen’s oral MS medication.

While the company is creating new positions in North Carolina, Biogen is also demonstrating further commitment to the Tar Heel State by extending the company’s Biogen Idec Community Lab from Massachusetts to North Carolina and will invest $1.5 million in Citizen Schools over the next three years to scale STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) programs. Citizen Schools is a nonprofit that partners with middle schools to provide additional learning opportunities for underserved students.

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