The Boston Globe - 20.08.2019

C2 Business The Boston Globe TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2019

Bold Types

With all the cord-cutting going on these days, it’s rare to see a cable TV
company expand into more Massachusetts cities and towns.
ButRCNis doing it, slowly but surely. Under the leadership of its local
general manager,JeffCarlson(below), the Princeton, N.J., cable company is
adding Greater Boston municipalities. Last year, it was Everett. This month,
RCN finished wiring Revere. Next up: Peabody.
Carlson says city officials there
approved a franchise
agreement in June. It will
probably take another year
for RCN to fully connect all
of Peabody’s neighborhoods.
Carlson says RCN will
continue to look for expan-
sion opportunities in the
state, to build on its 20-mu-
nicipalityfootprint.He
won’t say where the compa-
ny is eyeing next, but he did
say it’s probably going to be
a city or town with only one
cable TV provider (i.e. Com-
cast). RCN will probably steer
clear of places whereVerizon
andComcastare already com-
peting head-to-head for custom-
ers.
If RCN continues to expand
northward, it would probably need
to open a new operations
center to serve the
North Shore, in addi-
tion to existing facilities
in Arlington, Framing-
ham, and Canton. (A
South Boston location
closed in April.)
After the private eq-
uity firmTPGCapitalac-
quired RCN in 2017, its
focus at first was primar-
ily to upgrade the com-
pany’s networks. Once
that was done, Carlson
and others at the compa-
ny decided to find new markets adjacent to their existing ones.
It’s not that cost-cutting hasn’t had an impact at RCN. On the contrary:
Carlson says he estimates half of RCN’s nearly 90,000 Massachusetts custom-
ers buy TV service through the company, down from more than 90 percent a
decade ago. The rest are subscribing primarily for RCN’s broadband Internet
service. Once Internet speeds accelerated, the loss of “over-the-top” subscrip-
tions across the industry was inevitable.
But Carlson, an RCN veteran, still believes his company offers a better al-
ternative to the cable giants. ”We’re smaller, we’re agile,” he says. “We believe
we have a better customer focus.” — JON CHESTO

Politohelpscelebrate

TechTarget’s20th
It’s not every day that the lieuten-
ant governor shows up for your of-
fice party.
But in this case,TechTargethad a
20th anniversary to celebrate. Chief
executiveMikeCotoiaknew Lieuten-
ant GovernorKarynPolitofrom Cen-
tral Massachusetts — he lives in Sut-
ton, she in Shrewsbury. So he shot
Polito a note, inviting her to join the
festivities. “She said, ‘I’ve been fol-
lowing you guys for a long time, I’ll
be there,’ ” Cotoia recalls.
Polito made good on her promise,
agreeing to hand out awards to Tech-
Target customers at the party on
Thursday at TechTarget’s office in
the Gateway Center in Auburndale,
across the tracks from the MBTA’s
Riverside Station. Also on hand was
EMCcofounderRogerMarino,a
member of TechTarget’s board of di-
rectors.
About 450 people attended — em-
ployees, alums, and customers.
“I got chills listening to our cus-
tomers say it’s been a great partner-
ship for many years,” Cotoia says. “I
got chills watching our employees
have a great time, talking about all
their successes.”
The company, an online publish-
er of technology news and informa-
tion, has changed a bit since Cotoia
first started 17 years ago. Then, the
focus was on ad sales.
But now, the hot growth engine is
behavioral data: TechTarget’s IT Deal
Alert channels the company’s exper-
tise by letting marketing and sales-
people at IT companies know when
potential buyers of hardware or soft-
ware are starting to research a pur-
chase — and what to do to engage
them directly.
In 2018, TechTarget’s overall rev-
enue grew 12 percent, while the IT
Deal Alert part of the business grew
19 percent.
“We’ve had our fits and starts
[over the years], but we stuck to our
focus,” Cotoia says. — JON CHESTO

HoganLovellstrades

HighStreetaddresses
HoganLovellsmoved its Boston
office just a block, from 100 High St.
to 125 High St. But it was a major
change of view for managing partner
BillLovett. The law firm’s move —
completed last week — means Lovett
can see the harbor and the Green-
way from his desk. He previously
looked at the back of another build-
ing.
Of course, great views weren’t the
driving factor behind the relocation
— it was the firm’s growth. Hogan
Lovells landed here in 2017 by merg-
ing withCollora, a much smaller law

firm, giving it a Boston beachhead.

Collora occupied about 10,

square feet at the time, but Hogan

Lovells was soon bursting at the

seams. The new space, on the 20th

and 21st floors, is four times that

size. About 50 employees, including

30 attorneys, made the move, but

there’s enough room for 50 to 60

lawyers.

“Whether we get to that size de-

pends on what our clients’ needs are,

and what makes sense from a busi-

ness perspective,” Lovett says. “The

office also allows us to host visiting

[Hogan Lovells] attorneys from

across the world. That was a chal-

lenge in the old office. We just didn’t

have the space.”

The numbers are already increas-

ing. During the past few months,Da-

vidWalshjoined fromIBM— where

he was assistant general counsel and

helped handle IBM’s merger with

RedHat— and intellectual property

lawyersRobertUnderwoodand

KristinConnarncame over fromMc-

DermottWill&Emery.

The new office is much more

open than the old one, with glass

walls allowing light to flow through.

Lovett says his office might be the

smallest one, but it’s hard to top

those views. — JON CHESTO

ForGeorgeRegan,itwas

almost‘manoverboard’

Thanks to Mashpee Town Manag-

erRodneyCollins, and maybe some

divine intervention, Boston-based

communications chiefGeorge

Reganwasn’t swept out to sea.

Collins had joined Regan and sev-

eral other friends on Regan’s Hyan-

nis-docked sailboat, thePRPrincess,

on Sunday, Aug. 11. The winds were

picking up as they headed back into

the harbor, and another boat hit the

rail of the PR Princess as a result.

The boats weren’t significantly

damaged, per Regan’s telling of the

tale, but the collision apparently

loosened something on the boat, and

the sail line went swinging across

the deck, nearly knocking Regan

overboard.

“I didn’t see it coming,” he says. “I

was just gazing out, looking at the

beautiful day. All of a sudden, bang,

boom.”

Collins grabbed Regan and pre-

vented him from tumbling into the

drink. Regan gained a sprained

shoulder — and a new appreciation

for life.

“I went to Mass that Sunday at

8:30 a.m.,” Regan says. “I went back

Monday to say thank you.” — JON

CHESTO

Can’t keep a secret? Tell us. E-mail

Bold Types at [email protected].

CHRIS MORRIS FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE

Despitecord-cuttingbytoday’s

consumers,RCN’sexpanding
By Adam Feuerstein
STAT
Sarepta Therapeutics was dealt a
surprising setback Monday when the
Food and Drug Administration reject-
ed its marketing application
for a second drug designed to
treat children with Duchenne
muscular dystrophy, a rare and inher-
ited muscle-wasting disease.
In a statement, Sarepta said the
FDA denied the approval of the Cam-
bridge biotech’s drug, called Vyondys
53, due to the risk of infections relat-
ed to intravenous infusion ports and
kidney toxicity seen in animal experi-
ments.
Sarepta shares fell 13 percent to
$105 in after-hours trading. The
stock finished the regular trading ses-
sion down 4 percent.
The FDA did not issue its own
statement explaining its negative de-
cision, but the rejection of Vyondys
53 is an uncommon instance of the
agency pushing back against a com-
pany seeking fast approval for a rare-
disease drug based on an early bio-
marker — and before substantial evi-
dence of patient benefit was
obtained.
Fast approvals for rare-disease
drugs have skyrocketed and become
almost routine in recent years as the
FDA established expansive rules
meant to speed the development of
medicines for unmet medical needs.
The decision to reject Vyondys 53,
therefore, might represent a new and
more restrictive regulatory policy at
FDA, which could affect all compa-
nies developing drugs for rare diseas-
es.
But it might also only pertain to
Sarepta, which has had a contentious
relationship with the agency for
many years.
“We are very surprised to have re-
ceived the complete response letter
this afternoon,” Sarepta CEO Doug
Ingram said in a statement.
“Overtheentirecourseofitsre-
view, the agency did not raise any is-
sues suggesting the non-approvabili-
ty of golodirsen, including the issues
that formed the basis of the complete
response letter.” Golodirsen is the sci-
entific name for Vyondys 53.
The company submitted data to
the FDA showing Vyondys 53, admin-
istered via a weekly infusion, pro-

duced a small increase in an impor-

tant muscle protein called dystrophin

that is normally missing in children

with Duchenne.

But not collected or submitted

were any data showing Vyondys 53

capable of improving muscle function

of Duchenne patients or slowing the

progression of the disease. Sarepta

was betting on a fast FDA approval

first, before having to confirm treat-

ment benefit in a later clinical trial.

Sarepta used this same strategy in

2016 to secure an accelerated approv-

al for its first Duchenne drug, called

Exondys 51. That decision was con-

troversial. Outside advisors to the

FDA — and even some of the agency’s

own staff — concluded there was not

sufficient evidence to demonstrate

that Exondys 51 was effective in

treating Duchenne.

Top officials at the FDA, led by Dr.

Janet Woodcock, ignored the nega-

tive recommendations and approved

the drug anyway, in part because of

intense pressure from the families of

children with Duchenne.

With the approval in 2016, Sarep-

ta has been able to grow Exondys 51

into a product that generates $300 to

$400 million in sales annually. How-

ever, the company has fallen years be-

hind schedule completing the clinical

trials required by the FDA to confirm

the drug’s real benefit, as STAT re-

ported last week.

Sarepta’s delinquency on Exondys

51 may have angered the FDA

enough to play a role in the agency’s

decision Monday to reject Vyondys

53.

Sarepta said it plans to meet with

the FDA to address the issues that

caused FDA to reject the drug. A con-

firmatory study of Vyondys 53 is cur-

rently in progress, but data on muscle

function improvements are not ex-

pected for three or four years.

Vyondys 53 is designed to treat pa-

tients whose Duchenne is caused by

an error in the DNA sequence known

as exon 53. Approximately 8 percent

of the 5,000 US Duchenne patients

carry the exon 53 error. Exondys 51 is

used to treat the 13 percent of pa-

tients with disease caused by an error

in the DNA sequence known as exon

51.

Adam Feuerstein can be reached at

[email protected].

Sarepta’s2ndDuchennedrugis

rejected,asurpriseforcompany

By David Yaffe-Bellany

and David Gelles

NEW YORK TIMES

NEW YORK — Faced with mount-

ing global discontent over climate

change, income inequality, and work-

ing conditions, a coalition of major

companies pledged Monday to revise a

longstanding principle of corporate

governance.

Shareholders, the coalition said, ar-

en’t everything.

The statement, from the Business

Roundtable, a collection of executives

representing some of America’s largest

companies, offers a new definition of

“the purpose of a corporation.” No lon-

ger should the primary job of a corpo-

ration be to advance the interests of its

shareholders, the group said.

Companies must also invest in their

employees, deliver value to their cus-

tomers, and deal fairly and ethically

with their suppliers, the group said.

The statement was signed by 181

chief executives, including the leaders

of Amazon, Apple, American Airlines,

Accenture, AT&T, Bank of America,

Boeing, and Walmart.

[Also signing: James D. Taiclet of

American Tower Corp. in Boston; Lar-

ry Merlo, CVS Health, Woonsocket,

R.I.; Roger W. Crandall, MassMutual

in Springfield; Thomas A. Kennedy,

Raytheon Co., Waltham, Mass.; John F.

Fish of Suffolk, in Boston.]

“While each of our individual com-

panies serves its own corporate pur-

pose, we share a fundamental commit-

ment to all of our stakeholders,” said

the group, which is led by Jamie Di-

mon, chief executive of JPMorgan

Chase. “We commit to deliver value to

all of them, for the future success of

our companies, our communities and

our country.”

The Business Roundtable did not

provide specifics on how to achieve

this shift, offering more of a mission

statement than a plan of action. But

the companies pledged to compensate

employees fairly and provide “impor-

tant benefits,” as well as training and

education. They also promised to “pro-

tect the environment by embracing

sustainable practices across our busi-

nesses” and “foster diversity and inclu-

sion, dignity and respect.”

Since the 1970s, the Business

Roundtable, which primarily func-

tions as a lobbying organization, has

periodically issued principles of corpo-

rate governance that describe how a

company should operate. Each version

of those principles over the last 20

years has stated that “corporations ex-

ist principally to serve their sharehold-

ers,” according to Monday’s announce-

ment.

“It has become clear that this lan-

guage on corporate purpose does not

accurately describe the ways in which

we and our fellow CEOs endeavor ev-

ery day to create value for all our stake-

holders,” the group said in its state-

ment.

While the group cast the change in

language as a recognition of corporate

evolution, it was also a tacit acknowl-

edgment of the heightened scrutiny

companies are facing.

Lawmakers in Washington are

scrutinizing the dominance of big tech

companies like Amazon and Facebook.

Voters across the country have been

supporting efforts to raise the mini-

mum wage. And global concern about

climate change is leading companies

to reduce polluting emissions.

“They’re responding to something

in the zeitgeist,” said Nancy Koehn, a

historian at Harvard Business School.

“They perceive that business as usual

is no longer acceptable.”

Senator Bernie Sanders, indepen-

dent of Vermont, whose voice has been

among the loudest calling for business-

es to take more responsibility on social

issues, said he was pleased the Busi-

ness Roundtable had recognized the

dangers of corporate greed.

“But we need more than a public re-

lations stunt,” said Sanders, who has

made opposition to corporate power a

cornerstone of his presidential cam-

paign. “We need a concrete plan on

how they will bring back American

jobs overseas, pay all workers a living

wage with good benefits, stop attack-

ing unions, and start paying their fair

share of taxes.”

Klaus Schwab, chairman of the

World Economic Forum, said the ac-

celeration of technological disruption

of the traditional workforce had led to

greater sensitivity toward corporate re-

sponsibility.

“The threshold has moved substan-

tially for what people expect from a

company,” he said. “It’s more than just

producing profits for the sharehold-

ers.”

Schwab said the statement was an

encouraging sign — but that compa-

nies need to take concrete actions, not

just make big promises.

“It’s the right thing to do,” he said.

“But we have to continue to put flesh

to the bones.”

The Business Roundtable had been

working on the new language for

about a year, said Brian Moynihan,

chief executive of Bank of America.

“You can provide great returns for

your shareholders and great benefits

for your employees and run your busi-

ness in a responsible way,” Moynihan

said in an interview.

While the new statement of pur-

pose represents a sizable shift from the

Business Roundtable’s longstanding

principles, it was not the first time the

group had taken a position on a social

issue.

Last August, the group denounced

President Trump’s immigration poli-

cies, describing family separations as

“cruel and contrary to American val-

ues.”

The new statement represents an

even broader shift, signaling compa-

nies’ willingness to engage on social is-

sues of pay, diversity, and environmen-

tal protection.

But without concrete action, it is

just words, said Anand Giridharadas,

author of “Winners Take All: The Elite

Charade of Changing the World.”

“If the Business Roundtable is seri-

ous, it should tomorrow throw its

weight behind legislative proposals

that would put the teeth of the law into

these boardroom platitudes,” he said.

“Corporate magnanimity and volun-

tary virtue are not going to solve these

problems.”

Shareholders’interestscan

nolongerruleall,CEOssay

ANDREW HARNIK/ASSOCIATED PRESS/FILE 2015

The FDA did not explain its decision to reject Sarepta’s drug to treat

children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a muscle-wasting disease.

STAT

ASSOCIATEDPRESS/FILE 2019

JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon

said corporations must commit to

the success “of our companies, our

communities and our country.”