New Approaches to Discovery Push Research at Big Biotech

The biotechnology industry is among the biggest employers of life science professionals, with 140,000 employees generating $17.4 billion of revenue in 1997, according to an industry report by Ernst & Young LLP of Palo Alto, Calif. Since the birth of biotechnology in the 1970s, many of the seminal companies--such as Biogen and Genentech-- have matured into profitable or near- profitable companies. As these companies arose, venture capitalists fell in love with start-up biotechs in the 1980s

Written byJames Kling

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As the industry matures, larger companies change their research focus to reflect the success of the industry, while smaller start-ups seek niches that will allow them to survive into the future. What follows is a snapshot of cutting-edge research at five of the biggest, most successful biotech companies. The summaries, by no means a complete overview of the research at each company, represent a glimpse of the technologies and discovery programs that could drive big biotech research and development into the 21st century.

MULTIPLE FRONTS: Genentech has five main areas of research: cardiovascular, molecular oncology, endocrinology, neurobiology, and immunology.

South San Francisco, Calif. Genentech divides its efforts into five departments: cardiovascular research, molecular oncology, endocrinology, neurobiology, and immunology. In particular, the company puts a lot of research dollars into cancer and cardiovascular diseases, such as clotting disorders and heart disease.

In the past, Genentech has put about 75 percent of ...

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