Word: biotech
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...treat dwarfism in children. Genentech had previously developed Humulin, a synthetic insulin, but licensed it to an established pharmaceutical company, Eli Lilly, which put the drug on the market. Protropin, which is expected to generate annual sales of $40 million, is the first human drug that a new biotech company has tried to sell on its own. Says Robert Swanson, Genentech's cofounder: "This is the beginning of the coming of age of the biotechnology industry...
...investors who have sunk $1.5 billion into biotech start-ups, the journey from the laboratory to the marketplace has seemed agonizingly long. The industry was born in the 1970s, when scientists developed techniques for manipulating genes and converting bacterial and animal cells into tiny factories that could mass-produce drugs and other useful chemicals. When the first of the gene-splicing firms, led by Genentech and Cetus of Emeryville, Calif., went public in the early 1980s, Wall Street went wild. Genentech's stock jumped from $35 to $71 the first day. Biotech seemed like the next computer industry, and everyone...
Wall Street, though, soon saw the high hurdles that lay ahead for biotech companies. After a new drug is developed, it must go through five to six years of painstaking tests in animals and human patients before it can win the approval of the Food and Drug Administration. In addition, a new firm faces the formidable tasks of equipping factories to mass-produce new drugs and building a national sales force to distribute them. Uncertain that the new biotech companies were up to the job, investors grew wary. Genentech's stock slipped to a low of about...
...biotech companies' new emphasis on marketing has revived Wall Street's enthusiasm for their stocks. Genentech has risen from 34 to 49 since January, while Cetus has gone from less than 9 to nearly 16. Says Peter Drake, a biotechnology expert at the Kidder Peabody investment firm: "From an investor's standpoint, the industry is at a breakout point...
...biotechnology has not escaped the notice of established corporations. Companies with large investments in genetic research range from chemical firms like Du Pont and Monsanto to oil giants, including Exxon and Chevron. The most active players are the pharmaceutical houses, which have been feverishly striking alliances with the biotech companies. A recent licensing agreement allows Johnson & Johnson to sell products developed by Amgen of Thousand Oaks, Calif...