But the company didn't survive--despite its talented scientists, deep pockets, and the prospect of a blockbuster product. And the factors that led to the inglorious fading away of this once-promising northern California firm could serve as a warning to other entrepreneurial hopefuls.
While former Cetus scientists and administrators interviewed for this article willingly describe a series of chronic problems besetting the company, they tend to agree that the fundamental flaw was Cetus' inclination to behave like a fully mature drug company instead of the adolescent it really was.
Many former top managers at Cetus point to a pattern of miscalculating the potential of new products--undervaluing some and promoting others beyond their real worth. Some also say that the research effort at the company, lacking sufficient discipline and direction, failed to focus on marketable products. Ronald Cape, Cetus' cofounder and its final chief executive, at-tributes the decline of the enterprise to ...
