Biogen (BIIB) Risk Factors

Our success, including our long-term viability and growth, depends, in part, on our ability to obtain and defend patent and other intellectual property rights, including certain regulatory forms of exclusivity, that are important to the commercialization of our products and product candidates. Patent protection and/or regulatory exclusivity in the U.S. and other important markets remains uncertain and depends, in part, upon decisions of the patent offices, courts, administrative bodies and lawmakers in these countries. We may fail to obtain, defend or preserve patent and other intellectual property rights, including certain regulatory forms of exclusivity, or the protection we obtain may not be of sufficient breadth and degree to protect our commercial interests in all countries where we conduct business, which could result in financial, business or reputational harm to us or could cause a decline or volatility in our stock price. In addition, settlements of such proceedings often result in reducing the period of exclusivity and other protections, resulting in a reduction in revenue from affected products. In many markets, including the U.S., manufacturers may be allowed to rely on the safety and efficacy data of the innovator's product and do not need to conduct clinical trials before marketing a competing version of a product after there is no longer patent or regulatory exclusivity. In such cases, manufacturers often charge significantly lower prices and a major portion of the company's revenue may be reduced in a short period of time. In addition, manufacturers of generics and biosimilars may choose to launch or attempt to launch their products before the expiration of our patent or other intellectual property protections. Furthermore, our products may be determined to infringe patents or other intellectual property rights held by third-parties. Legal proceedings, administrative challenges or other types of proceedings are and may in the future be necessary to determine the validity, scope or non-infringement of certain patent rights claimed by third-parties to be pertinent to the manufacture, use or sale of our products. Legal proceedings may also be necessary to determine the rights, obligations and payments claimed during and after the expiration of intellectual property license agreements we have entered with third parties. Such proceedings are unpredictable and are often protracted and expensive. Negative outcomes of such proceedings could hinder or prevent us from manufacturing and marketing our products, require us to seek a license for the infringed product or technology or result in the assessment of significant monetary damages against us that may exceed amounts, if any, accrued in our financial statements. A failure to obtain necessary licenses for an infringed product or technology could prevent us from manufacturing or selling our products. Furthermore, payments under any licenses that we are able to obtain could reduce our profits from the covered products and services. Any of these circumstances could result in financial, business or reputational harm to us or could cause a decline or volatility in our stock price.

We are increasingly dependent upon information systems and data to operate our business. Changes in how we operate have caused us to modify our business practices in ways that heighten this dependence, including changing the requirement that most of our office-based employees in the U.S. and our other key markets work from the office, with many of our employees now working in hybrid or full-remote positions. As a result, we are increasingly dependent upon our information systems to operate our business and our ability to effectively manage our business depends on the security, reliability and adequacy of our information systems and data, which includes use of cloud technologies, including Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). Breakdowns, invasions, corruptions, destructions and/or breaches, which impact may include, but not limited to, comprising the capacity, reliability or security of our information systems or those of our business partners, including our cloud technologies, and/or unauthorized access to our data and information could subject us to significant liability, negatively impact our business operations, and/or require replacement of technology and/or sizeable ransom payments. Our information systems, including our cloud technologies, continue to increase in multitude and complexity, increasing our vulnerability when breakdowns, malicious intrusions and random attacks occur. Data privacy or security breaches also pose a risk that sensitive data, including intellectual property, trade secrets or personal information belonging to us, patients, customers or other business partners, may be exposed to unauthorized persons or to the public. Cybersecurity threats and incidents are increasing in their frequency, sophistication and intensity, and are becoming increasingly difficult to detect, particularly when they impact vendors, customers or suppliers, and other companies in our supply chain. Cybersecurity threats and incidents are often carried out by motivated, well-resourced, skilled and persistent actors, including nation states, organized crime groups, "hacktivists" and may include or target employees or contractors acting with careless or malicious intent. Recent developments in the threat landscape include use of AI and machine learning, as well as an increased number of cyber extortion attacks, with higher financial ransom demand amounts and increasing sophistication and variety of ransomware techniques and methodology. Geopolitical instability, including that related to Russia's invasion of Ukraine or the conflict in the Middle East, may increase the risk of cybersecurity threats. Cybersecurity threats or incidents may include deployment of harmful malware and key loggers, ransomware, a denial-of-service attack, a malicious website, the use of social engineering and other means to affect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of our information systems and data. Cybersecurity threats and incidents also include manufacturing, hardware or software supply chain attacks, which could cause a delay in the manufacturing of products or products produced for contract manufacturing or lead to a data privacy or security breach. Our key business partners face similar risks and any security breach of their systems could adversely affect our security posture. In addition, our increased use of cloud technologies heightens these and other operational risks, and any failure by cloud or other technology service providers to adequately safeguard their systems and prevent cyber-attacks could disrupt our operations and result in misappropriation, corruption or loss of confidential or propriety information. While we continue to build and improve our systems and infrastructure, including our business continuity plans, there can be no assurance that our efforts will prevent cybersecurity threats or incidents in our systems and any such incidents could materially adversely affect our business and operations and/or result in the loss of critical or sensitive information, which could result in material financial, legal, operational or reputational harm to us, loss of competitive advantage or loss of consumer confidence. Our liability insurance may not be sufficient in type or amount to cover us against claims related to security breaches, cyber-attacks and other related breaches. Regulations continue to change as regulators worldwide consider new rules. For example, the SEC has adopted additional disclosure rules regarding cyber security risk management, strategy, governance and incident reporting by public companies. These new regulations or other regulations being considered in Europe and around the world may impact the manner in which we operate. Regulators are imposing new data privacy and security requirements, including new and greater monetary fines for privacy violations. For example, the E.U.'s General Data Protection Regulation established regulations regarding the handling of personal data, and provides an enforcement authority and imposes large penalties for noncompliance. New U.S. data privacy and security laws, such as the CCPA, and others that may be passed, similarly introduce requirements with respect to personal information, and non-compliance with the CCPA may result in liability through private actions (subject to statutorily defined damages in the event of certain data breaches) and enforcement. Failure to comply with these current and future laws, policies, industry standards or legal obligations or any security incident resulting in the unauthorized access to, or acquisition, release or transfer of personal information may result in governmental enforcement actions, litigation, fines and penalties or adverse publicity and could cause our customers to lose trust in us, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

Changes in management, other personnel and our overall retention rate may disrupt our business, and any such disruption could adversely affect our operations, programs, growth, financial condition or results of operations. New members of management may have different perspectives on programs and opportunities for our business, which may cause us to focus on new opportunities or reduce or change emphasis on our existing programs. Our success is dependent upon our ability to attract and retain qualified management and other personnel in a highly competitive environment. Qualified individuals are in high demand, and we may incur significant costs to attract or retain them. We may face difficulty in attracting and retaining talent for a number of reasons, including management changes, integration related to the Reata and HI-Bio acquisitions, the underperformance or discontinuation of one or more marketed, pre-clinical or clinical programs, recruitment by competitors or changes in the overall labor market. In addition, changes in our organizational structure or in our flexible working arrangements could impact employees' productivity and morale as well as our ability to attract, retain and motivate employees. We cannot ensure that we will be able to hire or retain the personnel necessary for our operations or that the loss of any personnel will not have a material impact on our financial condition and results of operations.

We rely on a number of collaborative and other third-party relationships for revenue and the development, regulatory approval, commercialization and marketing of certain of our products and product candidates. We also outsource certain aspects of our regulatory affairs and clinical development relating to our products and product candidates to third-parties. Reliance on third-parties subjects us to a number of risks, including: - we may be unable to control the resources our collaborators or third-parties devote to our programs, products or product candidates, which may affect our ability to achieve development goals or milestones;- disputes may arise under an agreement, including with respect to the achievement and payment of milestones, payment of development or commercial costs, ownership of rights to technology developed, and the underlying agreement may fail to provide us with significant protection or may fail to be effectively enforced if the collaborators or third-parties fail to perform;- the interests of our collaborators or third-parties may not always be aligned with our interests, and such parties may not pursue regulatory approvals or market a product in the same manner or to the same extent that we would, which could adversely affect our revenue, or may adopt tax strategies that could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition;- third-party relationships require the parties to cooperate, and failure to do so effectively could adversely affect product sales or the clinical development or regulatory approvals of product candidates under joint control, could result in termination of the research, development or commercialization of product candidates or could result in litigation or arbitration;- any failure on the part of our collaborators or third-parties to comply with applicable laws, including tax laws, regulatory requirements and/or applicable contractual obligations or to fulfill any responsibilities they may have to protect and enforce any intellectual property rights underlying our products could have an adverse effect on our revenue or reputation as well as involve us in possible legal proceedings; and - any improper conduct or actions on the part of our collaborators or third-parties could subject us to civil or criminal investigations and monetary and injunctive penalties, require management attention, impact the accuracy and timing of our financial reporting and/or adversely impact our ability to conduct business, our operating results and our reputation. Given these risks, there is considerable uncertainty regarding the success of our current and future collaborative efforts. If these efforts fail, our product development or commercialization of new products could be delayed, revenue from products could decline and/or we may not realize the anticipated benefits of these arrangements.

Our activities, and the activities of our collaborators, distributors and other third-party providers, are subject to extensive government regulation and oversight in the U.S. and in foreign jurisdictions, and are subject to change and evolving interpretations, which could require us to incur substantial costs associated with compliance or to alter one or more of our business practices. The FDA and comparable foreign agencies directly regulate many of our most critical business activities, including the conduct of preclinical and clinical studies, product manufacturing, advertising and promotion, product distribution, adverse event reporting, product risk management and our compliance with good practice quality guidelines and regulations. Our interactions with physicians and other health care providers that prescribe or purchase our products are also subject to laws and government regulation designed to prevent fraud and abuse in the sale and use of products and place significant restrictions on the marketing practices of health care companies. Health care companies are facing heightened scrutiny of their relationships with health care providers and have been the target of lawsuits and investigations alleging violations of laws and government regulation, including claims asserting submission of incorrect pricing information, impermissible off-label promotion of pharmaceutical products, payments intended to influence the referral of health care business, submission of false claims for government reimbursement, antitrust violations or violations related to environmental matters. There is also enhanced scrutiny of company-sponsored patient assistance programs, including testing, insurance premium and co-pay assistance programs and donations to third-party charities that provide such assistance. The U.S. government has challenged some of our donations to third-party charities that provide patient assistance. If we, or our vendors or donation recipients, are found to fail to comply with relevant laws, regulations or government guidance in the operation of these or other patient assistance programs, we could be subject to significant fines or penalties. Risks relating to compliance with laws and regulations may be heightened as we continue to expand our global operations and enter new therapeutic areas with different patient populations, which may have different product distribution methods, marketing programs or patient assistance programs from those we currently utilize or support. Conditions and regulations governing the health care industry are subject to change, with possible retroactive effect, including: - new laws, regulations or judicial decisions, or new interpretations of existing laws, regulations or judicial decisions, related to health care availability, pricing or marketing practices, compliance with employment practices, method of delivery, payment for health care products and services, compliance with health information and data privacy and security laws and regulations, tracking and reporting payments and other transfers of value made to physicians and teaching hospitals, extensive anti-bribery and anti-corruption prohibitions, product serialization and labeling requirements and used product take-back requirements;- changes in the FDA and foreign regulatory approval processes or perspectives that may delay or prevent the approval of new products and result in lost market opportunity;- government shutdowns or relocations may result in delays to the review and approval process, slowing the time necessary for new drug candidates to be reviewed and/or approved, which may adversely affect our business;- requirements that provide for increased transparency of clinical trial results and quality data, such as the EMA's clinical transparency policy, which could impact our ability to protect trade secrets and competitively-sensitive information contained in approval applications or could be misinterpreted leading to reputational damage, misperception or legal action, which could harm our business; and - changes in FDA and foreign regulations that may require additional safety monitoring, labeling changes, restrictions on product distribution or use or other measures after the introduction of our products to market, which could increase our costs of doing business, adversely affect the future permitted uses of approved products or otherwise adversely affect the market for our products. Violations of governmental regulation may be punishable by criminal and civil sanctions, including fines and civil monetary penalties and exclusion from participation in government programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, as well as against executives overseeing our business. We could also be required to repay amounts we received from government payors or pay additional rebates and interest if we are found to have miscalculated the pricing information we submitted to the government. In addition, legal proceedings and investigations are inherently unpredictable, and large judgments or settlements sometimes occur. While we believe that we have appropriate compliance controls, policies and procedures in place to comply with the laws or regulations of the jurisdictions in which we operate, there is a risk that acts committed by our employees, agents, distributors, collaborators or third-party providers might violate such laws or regulations. Whether or not we have complied with the law, an investigation or litigation related to alleged unlawful conduct could increase our expense, damage our reputation, divert management time and attention and adversely affect our business.

As a global biopharmaceutical company, we are subject to taxation in numerous countries, states and other jurisdictions. As a result, our effective tax rate is derived from a combination of applicable tax rates, including withholding taxes, in the various places that we operate. In preparing our financial statements, we estimate the amount of tax that will become payable in each of such places. Our effective tax rate may be different than experienced in the past or our current expectations due to many factors, including changes in the mix of our profitability from country to country, the results of examinations and audits of our tax filings, adjustments to the value of our uncertain tax positions, interpretations by tax authorities or other bodies with jurisdiction, the result of tax cases, changes in accounting for income taxes and changes in tax laws and regulations either prospectively or retrospectively and the effects of the integration of Reata and HI-Bio. Our inability to secure or sustain acceptable arrangements with tax authorities and future changes in the tax laws, among other things, may result in tax obligations in excess of amounts accrued in our financial statements. The enactment of some or all of the recommendations set forth or that may be forthcoming in the OECD's project on "Base Erosion and Profit Shifting" by tax authorities and economic blocs in the countries in which we operate, could unfavorably impact our effective tax rate. These initiatives focus on common international principles for the entitlement to taxation of global corporate profits and minimum global tax rates. Many countries have or are in the process of enacting legislation intended to implement the OECD GloBE Model Rules effective on January 1, 2024. The impact on the Company will depend on the timing of implementation, the exact nature of each country's GloBE legislation, guidance and regulations thereon and their application by tax authorities either prospectively or retrospectively.

The biopharmaceutical industry and the markets in which we operate are intensely competitive. We compete in the marketing and sale of our products, the development of new products and processes, the acquisition of rights to new products with commercial potential and the hiring and retention of personnel. We compete with biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies that have a greater number of products on the market and in the product pipeline, substantially greater financial, marketing, research and development and other resources and other technological or competitive advantages. Our products continue to face increasing competition from the introduction of new originator therapies, generics, prodrugs and biosimilars of existing products and products approved under abbreviated regulatory pathways. Some of these products are likely to be sold at substantially lower prices than our branded products. The introduction of such products as well as other lower-priced competing products has reduced, and may in the future, significantly reduce both the price that we are able to charge for our products and the volume of products we sell, which will negatively impact our revenue. For instance, demand and price for TECFIDERA declined significantly as a result of multiple TECFIDERA generic entrants entering the U.S. market in 2020. In addition, in some markets, when a generic or biosimilar version of one of our products is commercialized, it may be automatically substituted for our product and significantly reduce our revenue in a short period of time. Our ability to compete, maintain and grow our business may also be adversely affected due to a number of factors, including: - the introduction of other products, including products that may be more efficacious, safer, less expensive or more convenient alternatives to our products, including our own products and products of our collaborators;- the off-label use by physicians of therapies indicated for other conditions to treat patients;- patient dynamics, including the size of the patient population and our ability to identify, attract and maintain new and current patients to our therapies;- the reluctance of physicians to prescribe, and patients to use, our products without additional data on the efficacy and safety of such products;- damage to physician and patient confidence in any of our products, generic or biosimilars of our products or any other product from the same class as one of our products, or to our sales and reputation as a result of label changes, pricing and reimbursement decisions or adverse experiences or events that may occur with patients treated with our products or generic or biosimilars of our products;- inability to obtain and maintain appropriate pricing and adequate reimbursement for our products compared to our competitors in key markets; or - our ability to obtain and maintain patent, data or market exclusivity for our products.

In the U.S., federal and state legislatures, health agencies and third-party payors continue to focus on containing the cost of health care. Legislative and regulatory proposals, enactments to reform health care insurance programs (including those contained in the IRA) and increasing pressure from social sources could significantly influence the manner in which our products are prescribed, purchased and reimbursed. For example, provisions of the PPACA have resulted in changes in the way health care is paid for by both governmental and private insurers, including increased rebates owed by manufacturers under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program, annual fees and taxes on manufacturers of certain branded prescription drugs, the requirement that manufacturers participate in a discount program for certain outpatient drugs under Medicare Part D and the expansion of the number of hospitals eligible for discounts under Section 340B of the Public Health Service Act. These changes have had and are expected to continue to have a significant impact on our business. We may face uncertainties as a result of efforts to repeal, substantially modify or invalidate some or all of the provisions of the PPACA. There is no assurance that the PPACA, as currently enacted or as amended in the future, will not adversely affect our business and financial results, and we cannot predict how future federal or state legislative or administrative changes relating to healthcare reform will affect our business. There is substantial public attention on the costs of prescription drugs and we expect drug pricing and other health care costs to continue to be subject to intense political and societal pressures on a global basis. In addition, there have been (including elements of the IRA), and are expected to continue to be, legislative proposals to address prescription drug pricing. Some of these proposals could have significant effects on our business, including an executive order issued in September 2020 to test a "most favored nation" model for Part B and Part D drugs that tie reimbursement rates to international drug pricing metrics. These actions and the uncertainty about the future of the PPACA and healthcare laws may put downward pressure on pharmaceutical pricing and increase our regulatory burdens and operating costs. There is also significant economic pressure on state budgets, that may result in states increasingly seeking to achieve budget savings through mechanisms that limit coverage or payment for our drugs. In recent years, some states have considered legislation and ballot initiatives that would control the prices of drugs, including laws to allow importation of pharmaceutical products from lower cost jurisdictions outside the U.S. and laws intended to impose price controls on state drug purchases. State Medicaid programs are requesting manufacturers to pay supplemental rebates and requiring prior authorization by the state program for use of any drug for which supplemental rebates are not being paid. Government efforts to reduce Medicaid expense may lead to increased use of managed care organizations by Medicaid programs. This may result in managed care organizations influencing prescription decisions for a larger segment of the population and a corresponding limitation on prices and reimbursement for our products. In the E.U. and some other international markets, the government provides health care at low cost to consumers and regulates pharmaceutical prices, patient eligibility or reimbursement levels to control costs for the government-sponsored health care system. Many countries have announced or implemented measures, and may in the future implement new or additional measures, to reduce health care costs to limit the overall level of government expenditures. These measures vary by country and may include, among other things, patient access restrictions, suspensions on price increases, prospective and possible retroactive price reductions and other recoupments and increased mandatory discounts or rebates, recoveries of past price increases and greater importation of drugs from lower-cost countries. These measures have negatively impacted our revenue and may continue to adversely affect our revenue and results of operations in the future.

We are increasing our presence in international markets, subjecting us to many risks that could adversely affect our business and revenue. There is no guarantee that our efforts and strategies to expand sales in international markets will succeed. Emerging market countries may be especially vulnerable to periods of global and local political, legal, regulatory and financial instability and may have a higher incidence of corruption and fraudulent business practices. Certain countries may require local clinical trial data as part of the drug registration process in addition to global clinical trials, which can add to overall drug development and registration timelines. We may also be required to increase our reliance on third-party agents or distributors and unfamiliar operations and arrangements previously utilized by companies we collaborate with or acquire in emerging markets. Our sales and operations are subject to the risks of doing business internationally, including: - the impact of public health epidemics on the global economy and the delivery of healthcare treatments;- less favorable intellectual property or other applicable laws;- the inability to obtain necessary foreign regulatory approvals of products in a timely manner;- limitations and additional pressures on our ability to obtain and maintain product pricing, reimbursement or receive price increases, including those resulting from governmental or regulatory requirements;- increased cost of goods due to factors such as inflation and supply chain disruptions;- additional complexity in manufacturing or conducting clinical research internationally, including materials manufactured in China or working with CROs in China;- delays in clinical trials relating to geopolitical instability related to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the military conflict in the Middle East;- the inability to successfully complete subsequent or confirmatory clinical trials in countries where our experience is limited;- longer payment and reimbursement cycles and uncertainties regarding the collectability of accounts receivable;- fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates that may adversely impact our revenue, net income and value of certain of our investments;- the imposition of governmental controls;- diverse data privacy and protection requirements;- increasingly complex standards for complying with foreign laws and regulations that may differ substantially from country to country and may conflict with corresponding U.S. laws and regulations;- the far-reaching anti-bribery and anti-corruption legislation in the U.K., including the U.K. Bribery Act 2010, and elsewhere and escalation of investigations and prosecutions pursuant to such laws;- compliance with complex import and export control laws;- changes in tax laws; and - the imposition of tariffs or embargoes and other trade restrictions. In addition, our international operations are subject to regulation under U.S. law. For example, the U.S. FCPA prohibits U.S. companies and their representatives from paying, offering to pay, promising to pay or authorizing the payment of anything of value to any foreign government official, government staff member, political party or political candidate for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business or to otherwise obtain favorable treatment or influence a person working in an official capacity. In many countries, the health care professionals we regularly interact with may meet the FCPA's definition of a foreign government official. Failure to comply with domestic or foreign laws could result in various adverse consequences, including possible delay in approval or refusal to approve a product, recalls, seizures or withdrawal of an approved product from the market, disruption in the supply or availability of our products or suspension of export or import privileges, the imposition of civil or criminal sanctions, the prosecution of executives overseeing our international operations and damage to our reputation. Any significant impairment of our ability to sell products outside of the U.S. could adversely impact our business and financial results. In addition, while we believe that we have appropriate compliance controls, policies and procedures in place to comply with the FCPA, there is a risk that acts committed by our employees, agents, distributors, collaborators or third-party providers might violate the FCPA and we might be held responsible. If our employees, agents, distributors, collaborators or third-party providers are found to have engaged in such practices, we could suffer severe penalties and may be subject to other liabilities, which could negatively affect our business, operating results and financial condition.

We may seek access to the capital and credit markets to supplement our existing funds and cash generated from operations for working capital, capital expenditure and debt service requirements and other business initiatives. The capital and credit markets are experiencing, and have in the past experienced, extreme volatility and disruption, which leads to uncertainty and liquidity issues for both borrowers and investors. In the event of adverse market conditions, we may be unable to obtain capital or credit market financing on favorable terms which could significantly increase our financing costs. Changes in credit ratings issued by nationally recognized credit rating agencies could also adversely affect our cost of financing and the market price of our securities.