Biopharmaceutical company Biogen (BIIB, Financial) added 61 basis points to the Fund’s return, as its stock surged from $279.75 to $346.27, for a total return of 23.8%. Biogen develops drugs that treat neurological and neurogenerative disease, including multiple sclerosis and spinal muscular atrophy. The stock soared 40% after the FDA approved Biogen’s experimental Alzheimer’s treatment. More than one hundred other Alzheimer’s drugs have failed in clinical trials over the past 20 years, so the decision is as historic as it is controversial. Investors cheered the breakthrough, which offered new hope to patients and opened a large new frontier for the company.
From the Parnassus Endeavor Fund (Trades, Portfolio)'s second-quarter 2021 commentary.
