Michel Vounatsos, chief executive of the drug company Biogen seemed to be pretty happy in the first week of March, as the company’s latest drug for Alzheimer’s was finally being successful after a lot of hurdles. However, little did he know that Biogen’s senior executives were unknowingly spreading the more prominent global threat – the Coronavirus. The Biogen’s employees, who were asymptomatic till then were traveling by flight, and now a month later we know that those employees had spread the virus to six states, the District of Columbia and three countries.
Ironically, the same health care officials who are tasked with stopping the spread of the virus were the ones spreading it. But, there was hardly anything that they could do – as the nature of the virus is such that one does not know until a certain point that he is actually a carrier.
John Carroll, editor of Endpoints News, who is considered as a specialist in the biotech sector exclaimed that the smartest health care officials were completely unaware of what was coming – a global crisis that has now turned the world around.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health reported that there are at least 99 cases only in that state relating to those Biogen employees and their contacts.
Read here: “Coronavirus Updates” The Death Toll of the US
Once this news broke out, many have alleged Biogen of taking this matter very lightly, and have criticized their decision of conducting a leadership meeting at the end of February, which was attended by vice presidents from many European countries.
When asked about Michel Vounatsos’ test results or if he has been tested for the virus in the first place or not, a Biogen spokesperson ignored the question and stated that Michael is solely committed to employee safety and medical supplies to patients, which is far more important than his personal health.
Biogen is a biotechnology-oriented firm that was established in 1978 and is well known for its pioneering work in the quest to develop a treatment for Alzheimer’s.
