Businessweek

t to payments to government officials. Those laws include the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits the U.S. companies and their representatives from paying, offering to pay, promising, or authorizing the payment of anything of value to any foreign government official, government staff member, political party, or political candidate for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business or to otherwise obtain favorable treatment or influence a person working in an official capacity. The laws to which the company is subject also include the U.K. Bribery Act 2010, which proscribes giving and receiving bribes in the public and private sectors, bribing a foreign public official, and failing to have adequate procedures to prevent employees and other agents from giving bribes. Competition AVONEX and TYSABRI: The company competes with Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.; Merck; the Bayer Group; Novartis AG; and Sanofi-Aventis Deutschland GmbH. RITUXAN IN ONCOLOGY: The company competes with Cephalon, Inc. and GenMab. RITUXAN IN RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS: The company competes with Johnson & Johnson; AbbVie, Inc.; Amgen, Inc.; Pfizer Inc.; UCB, S.A.; Bristol-Myers Squibb Company; and Roche. History The company was founded as a California corporation in 1985 and became a Delaware corporation in 1997. It was formerly known as IDEC Pharmaceuticals Corporation and changed its name to Biogen Idec Inc. in 2003.