5/16/2000

Biogen's continued strong sales and profits from Avonex, its injectable drug to treat multiple sclerosis, plus royalties from vaccines licensed to several major drug makers, again placed it among the top 10 growth companies for 1999 - the only company to repeat that feat from 1998.

James Mullen, president of Biogen, at its Cambridge headquarters. It's the only firm in the top 10 growth companies for both 1998 and 1999. (Globe Staff Photo / Bill Greene) Growth 1. Affiliated Managers 2. Concord Communications 3. Sapient Corp. 4. Biogen Inc. 5. DeWolfe Cos. The Growth 50

Last year was a strong one for the 22-year-old Cambridge biotech company. Avonex sales soared to nearly $621 million, from $395 million in 1998 and $240 million in 1997. Royalty revenues rose 6.7 percent to nearly $174 million in 1999, from $163 million in 1998. In 1997, Biogen's royalties totaled $172 million.

Despite some competitive threats, Biogen hopes to expand its Avonex sales in the coming years to a new group of people, individuals who show early signs of multiple sclerosis. The company recently completed a 383-patient study that revealed how Avonex could delay the development of the disease in patients suspected of having it.

And while Biogen has a pipeline of forthcoming drugs - including Amevive to treat moderate to severe psoriasis, a chronic skin disorder, and another for congestive heart failure - the company is looking far ahead to create gene -based biopharmaceuticals.

Biogen recently began working with Incyte Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Palo Alto, Calif., a leading provider of genomic information whose software tools and database library of gene sequences will be used to develop the next generation of biopharmaceuticals.

RONALD ROSENBERG