In a sudden move, Al Sandrock, the man behind Biogen’s Aduhelm, to retire

Al Sandrock, Biogen’s top scientist and the face of its years-long campaign to develop a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, is leaving the company after more than two decades.

The surprise departure of Sandrock, who oversees all of Biogen’s research and development, leaves a void in the company’s upper ranks. And it comes as Biogen is facing a worsening business outlook, saddled with a string of setbacks to its research pipeline and forced to defend its scientific integrity after the approval of the polarizing Alzheimer’s treatment Aduhelm.

Biogen announced Sandrock’s departure Monday, after STAT reported the news. Priya Singhal, Biogen’s senior vice president of global safety and regulatory sciences, will replace him on an interim basis.

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