US drug company became coronavirus ‘super spreader’ after meeting led to at least 99 new cases

Biogen's annual leadership meeting reportedly led to at least 99 coronavirus cases across six states and at least three countries.

A major US drug company unknowingly became a coronavirus ‘super spreader’ after hosting a meeting that led to 99 new cases of the virus.

Biogen, which focuses on treatments for neurological disorders, held their annual leadership meeting at the Boston Marriott Long Wharf in Massachusetts in late February. By mid March, 32 coronavirus cases were linked the the meeting – but that number has since tripled to nearly 100 cases across six states as the executives who attended the conference boarded flights and returned home.

According to The New York Times, an estimated 7,500 Biogen employees from across the globe and 175 senior executives attended the conference.

Michel Vounatsos, the chief executive of Biogen who presented the company’s new Alzheimer’s drug at the conference, has since released a statement regarding the spread of Covid-19 tracked back to the meeting.

‘For a company whose missing is to save lives, it was very difficult to see our colleagues and community directly affected by this disease,’ Vounatsos wrote.

‘We would never have knowingly put anyone at risk.’

Health officials said the first case of Covid-19 in Tennessee and the first two cases of the virus in Indiana have reportedly been trace back to the conference.

A cluster of six cases believed to be the first in North Carolina was also reportedly traced back to Biogen employees. Two Biogen senior executives also contracted the virus, although their identities have not been released. Two more senior officials reportedly tested positive for the virus after they returned to their home countries of Germany and Switzerland. Another attendee is believed to have kept her symptoms a secret as she flew from Los Angeles to Beijing.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health has estimated that the total amount of cases caused by the conference is 99. All the Biogen-related coronavirus patients outside of Massachusetts have reportedly since recover, but it is still not clear whether anyone got critically ill or died because of the meeting.