Book excerpt: How Henri Termeer built Genzyme and pioneered the rare disease industry
It wasn’t that long ago when the notion of a startup company going after a rare disease with a total addressable market of a few thousand sick patients was a non-starter.
It was Genzyme founder Henri Termeer who changed all that. And today I’m pleased to share with readers an excerpt from a new book that examines how he built his groundbreaking company.
Termeer’s legacy rests on growing Genzyme into a world leader in orphan drug R&D, developing drugs for tiny patient populations, saving lives and pioneering an aggressive pricing strategy that made the field a popular focus among a whole generation of startups.
He was a mentor and friend to many leaders in the industry today. After selling Genzyme to Sanofi, he stayed active in biotech, serving on boards at Moderna, Verastem and others and investing part of the $158 million windfall of cash he earned in the Sanofi buyout in a long lineup of upstarts.
The book is titled Conscience and Courage: How Visionary CEO Henri Termeer Built a Biotech Giant and Pioneered the Rare Disease Industry and you can buy it from Amazon here or directly from the publisher. — Arsalan Arif
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