From Biotech to Quantum... U.S. Lawmaker Targets BIIB and IBM

Representative María Elvira Salazar, a member of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee and Financial Services Committee, disclosed on June 8 that she made sizable individual stock purchases in May, notably in Biogen Inc. (BIIB) and IBM Corp. (IBM). Based on the filing, she committed up to approximately $230,000—roughly 300 million won—to these two issues.

Salazar acquired Biogen shares over three transactions between May 11 and 12. One transaction fell in the $50,001–$100,000 range, while the other two were each in the $1,001–$15,000 bracket, for a total investment of about $52,000–$130,000 (around 80–200 million won). Biogen, whose neurology pipeline includes the Alzheimer’s treatment Leqembi, reported first-quarter results at the end of April that exceeded market expectations, and its share price has climbed nearly 50% over the past year through early May, approaching a 52-week high near $206. However, on May 21, Biogen and Denali Therapeutics announced that the Phase 2b trial of Parkinson’s candidate BIIB122 failed to meet its primary efficacy endpoint, halting development and increasing near-term pipeline volatility.

Her IBM purchases were concentrated on May 21. Using both a UBS brokerage account and an IRA account, she bought $15,001–$50,000 worth of IBM stock in each, for a combined outlay of $30,000–$100,000 (about 46–150 million won). IBM’s first-quarter revenue rose roughly 10% year-over-year, and at the end of May the company unveiled a $10 billion, five-year investment plan for quantum computing, open-source AI and security projects in collaboration with Red Hat, and a “quantum foundry” initiative with the U.S. Commerce Department. These moves have positioned IBM as a leading beneficiary of the quantum and AI themes. Following the announcements, IBM shares jumped about 20% over two weeks, prompting some analysts to warn of an overheated quantum rally and potential valuation pressures.

Salazar, a Cuban-American Republican, serves on both the Financial Services and Foreign Affairs Committees and chairs the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, overseeing trade, energy and security issues in the Americas. She has sponsored pro-business and immigration-reform legislation such as the Dignity Act. By deploying substantial personal capital in a high-priced drugmaker sensitive to global patents and trade norms, and in a company at the heart of U.S. strategic technology and security policy, her legislative activities face inevitable conflict-of-interest scrutiny. In 2022, she was accused of violating the STOCK Act by late-reporting a stake exchange in private healthcare firm Cano Health, and more recently she has faced criticism from watchdogs for trading defense and financial stocks overlapping with her committee work—even as she manages her UBS accounts through a third party. With growing calls in Congress to ban members from trading individual stocks outright, her latest Biogen and IBM purchases are likely to intensify debates over information asymmetry and the limits of self-regulation.