George Scangos

Since joining Biogen as CEO in 2010, Scangos has taken a highly profitable company, more than doubled its revenue, and more than tripled its earnings. And he has done so while upping the R&D budget 52% between 2010 and 2014. Today, Biogen seems afflicted with the curse of high expectations. Investors are apparently disappointed with projected sales and earnings growth of, respectively, 9% and 19% this year. In part because of that, Biogen wasn’t immune to this year’s plague in biotech stocks (worsened by lower-than-expected demand for its multiple sclerosis drug Tecfidera). Scangos’s remedy: He’s bolstering marketing and narrowing focus to a few research areas, while cutting 11% of Biogen’s workforce. Will that cure the ailing stock price? Perhaps not. But if profit growth of 19% is considered anemic, most CEOs would happily accept the condition.