How Genzyme's Work Spawned 43 Other Biotechs
June 8, 2015
By Mark Terry, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
Some companies, by their focus and development, have far more ripple effects on their industries than others. A good example of this is Genzyme Corporation.
Writing for the Boston Business Journal, Don Seiffert took a look at the number of companies whose science and executives have come out of Genzyme’s work or have been affected by them. At its most basic count, 43 companies.
The report notes, among other things, that Cambridge, and Kendall Square specifically, is the heart of the state’s biotech industry. Massachusetts is home to 30 public and 94 private universities, and gets the second highest level of National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding among states. It also is the home of numerous venture capital firms that are active in the life sciences, such as Atlas Venture, Flagship Ventures, HealthCare Ventures, MPM Capital, Polaris Venture Partners and Third Rock.
The report notes that Massachusetts-based VC firms stick to life science investing. While San Francisco has almost twice as many VC firms that participate in biotech investing as Massachusetts does, they tend to split their dollars and focus between life sciences and information technology.
In the context of Genzyme, the report notes that because of the state’s high density of universities, “Massachusetts graduates more life sciences Ph.D.’s per capita than any other cluster. These students provide the scientific expertise required in a life science company.”
It further goes on to point out that more than 50 companies have been created by Genzyme employees who left the company to start or lead new companies. Adding to the earlier list is Antigenics, FFE Therapeutics, Aronex, Procept and the list goes on.
The Massachusetts life science’s beating heart is in Kendall Square in Cambridge. An analysis of the area shows 163 technology companies—life sciences and information technology—per square mile. Compare that to Palo Alto, the next densest cluster, with 36 tech companies per square mile.
“Within five minutes of my office,” said George Scangos, chief executive officer of Biogen Idec, Inc. in the report, “I can visit so many companies and institutes, just by walking. This concentration just does not exist in the Bay Area. It creates more intensity and more community spirit.”
What perhaps goes unsaid, in terms of both Genzyme and the Cambridge/Kendall Square area, is that so many of the scientists and execs want to break loose and start their own company or run other companies. And the Cambridge area has a number of factors that makes that possible.
And as the Boston Business Journal articles points out, of the 43 companies influenced by Genzyme shown in a Skip Irving graphic below, a quarter of them are in the Boston area.
An incomplete list of the companies spun out of, influenced or run by former Genzyme employees, includes:
Cubist
CytoScience
Declion
EXACT Sciences
FFE Therapeutics
Five Prime Therapeutics
Flatley Discovery Lab
Gallus Biopharma
Hydra Biosciences
Hyperion
Intercell
Link Medical Group
Neuron Systems
Novavax
Ocular Therapeutics
OXiGENE
PathoGenetix
Peptimmune
ProCepT
Proteon Therapeutics
PureTech
Red Sky Partners
rEVO Biologics
Sarepta Therapeutics
TetraLogic Pharmaceuticals
TSI
Verastem
Viscus Biologics
Zyngenia
When Will Pfizer's Breakup Happen?
Speculation that the revamping of Pfizer Inc. ’s internal business structure could happen as soon as this year has biotech wondering just when this Big Pharma company could see changes.
Last week an analyst with J.P. Morgan said he thinks there will be a much faster timeline than most of Wall Street had predicted for Pfizer’s stated mission to refocus its efforts on new medicines.
Pfizer initially announced in 2012 that it would be shedding units that were non-essential to that goal. It then promptly sold its nutrition silo to Nestle for $11.85 billion, which was rapidly accompanied by a public spin-off of its animal health business for $2.2 billion.
“While a Pfizer break-up would likely be a 2017 event, we see potential catalysts in 2015-2016," said Chris Schott, an analyst at J.P. Morgan. "Three years of audited financial statements (2014-2016) are required before any part of Pfizer can be spun off, and we also see 2017 as an attractive time for action as investors see Pfizer’s innovative pipeline clearly contributing to growth and the established business having transitioned to a more stable profile."
BioSpace wants to know what you think: Will Pfizer be a changed company by the end of 2015?