Biogen Inc (NASDAQ: BIIB) is in the spotlight after a bombshell report by the New York Times that detailed how the pharmaceutical company became a "superspreader" of COVID-19. Biogen employees have been responsible for at least 99 cases throughout the country.
In February, Biogen Inc was set to hold its annual leadership conference. Attending the conference were many senior members at the company, including members of Biogen's C-Suite. Company employees from across the United States were in attendance, as were several from Europe. Around the time of the conference, China was in the grip of an epidemic. At the same time, only 30 or so people in the United States had been infected, and several countries in Europe had reported cases, including countries from which several attendees had originated from.
While the index case (colloquially known as a "patient zero") among the Biogen attendees was never identified, it is known that novel coronavirus was able to spread amongst the attendees, setting the stage for what was to come.
From the leadership conference, employees would return home, while some executives of the company would set off for other events. Many, without knowing, had become asymptomatic carriers for the coronavirus.
As the disease spread and the outbreak quickly became a global pandemic, Biogen employees began to fall ill. Across several states, Biogen employees were either the first cases in that state or among the earliest cases. Despite the company now being aware that attendees had been sick, four executives attended a health care conference in Boston. Two of those executives would later test positive for the coronavirus. It would not be long before 50 Biogen employees, domestically and overseas, were now showing symptoms. Biogen would end up being responsible for 99 confirmed cases among its employees and their contacts.
Biogen, for its part in the spread of the coronavirus in the United States, has defended its actions and the acts it later took to protect employees. "We moved quickly," an employee told the New York Times. "When we learned a number of our colleagues were ill, we did not know the cause was COVID-19," said CEO Michel Vounatsos.
The release of the Times' article had a noticeable effect on Biogen stock during pre-market trading on Monday, bringing the stock down 0.3%. By Tuesday, however, any noticeable effects were gone as shares were up 3.57% from Monday's close by the afternoon.