Biogen gives chief big bonus, raise

The Securities and Exchange Commission report also shows the board awarded $2.83 million in 2005 bonuses to 10 Biogen Idec executives, including Mullen.

Biogen Idec spokesman Tim Hunt said Mullen's compensation is based on several performance measures including the company's earnings and stock performance as well progress in bringing new drugs to market.

Mullen's $1.2 million performance-based bonus for 2005 is smaller than the nearly $1.35 million bonus the Cambridge-based company awarded him in 2004.

That year, Biogen Idec's stock rose more than 75 percent in anticipation of the November 2004 introduction of Tysabri, a multiple sclerosis drug that had been forecast to become a blockbuster.

But Biogen Idec and its Irish drug development partner Elan Corp. withdrew Tysabri on Feb. 28, 2005, and disclosed the drug may heighten the risk of contracting a rare and often fatal disease of the central nervous system. Shares fell more than 42 percent the day the drug was withdrawn.

In another development, The Food and Drug Administration yesterday approved Biogen Idec Inc.'s drug Rituxan for use in an additional form of lymphoma, cancer of the lymph nodes.

The drug, discovered by Biogen Idec, was approved in 1997 to treat so-called indolent lymphoma, a slow-moving form of the disease.

The additional approval is for use of Rituxan and a combination of chemotherapy medications to treat diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, a much more aggressive form of the disease.

Biogen Idec markets Rituxan with Genentech Inc. of South San Francisco, which splits revenues with Biogen Idec. In 2004, the drug's sales totaled $1.6 billion.

Globe staffer Jeffrey Krasner contributed material to this report.