Going for the Gene Green

Biotech pioneers find that selling is just as crucial as science

The young biotechnology industry has already shown that it can perform miracles of science, creating marvelous synthetic molecules with the potential to attack cancer or stop heart attacks. Now the genetic engineering companies are out to prove that they can work the same magic in the marketplace, turning those wonder drugs into profitmakers. Last week Genentech, an industry leader based in south San Francisco, began selling its first drug product for humans: Protropin, a growth hormone used to treat dwarfism in children. Genentech had previously developed Humulin, a synthetic insulin, but licensed it to an established pharmaceutical company, Eli Lilly, which...

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