Genzyme Case Study

4. Robert Langer, a faculty member at MIT 's prestigious Whitehead Institute, is mentioned in the article. He is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of In Vivo Therapeutics and has a long list of accomplishments. As a faculty member should he or others who are full time faculty members at any university or college have constraints on their contributions to and activity with biotechnology companies? How might you design a fair strategic plan that would allow university research faculty to translate their work into new medical devices or practices that have both commercial and medical potential?

Of course, the board does not confess to satisfying the greed for higher profits by taking these unpopular steps; they present all the process as catching up on the competitors. “GM has to do what it has to do in order to stay competitive, even if it means laying off thousands of people”, says a member of the board, and thus makes it more than clear that in a capitalist society the managers and the directors are concerned only with the profit maximization and with their own welfare, whereas the employees have to fight for their jobs in more and more unfavorable conditions. More than 30 000 workers have now lost their jobs, whereas the company’s chairman Roger Smith has just made $2 millions himself. The unions are no help at all in this moment. Supposed to increase the workers’ bargaining power, the unions have now become useless, since “too many people in the unions friends with the management”, whose interests, in this case, are completely the opposites to those of the workers.

Exploring the Expression of an Auxin Induced Gene pCNT103, a Constitutive Gene GapC and a Cytokinin Induced Cig1 Gene in the DNA and RNA Extracts of Differentiated Shoot, Root, and Callus Tissue of Nicotiana tabacum

A highly conserved gene will be used to identify a prokaryotic species isolated from the body. Fundamental lab techniques will be also explored and utilized, such as amplifying using PCR, cloning, and transforming the gene into a host cell. DNA electrophoresis and specific substrate plating will serve as analysis check points. The final product will be sequenced and compared to similar species to observe phylogenetic relationships.

As a president of the publicly owned corporation, Wexly, my number one priority is that of the stockholders. The stockholders have the ability to influence my career directly or indirectly. Directly in the sense that they have the ability to alter my title or status with the company through feedback to the board of the directors who have total influence on whether they want to keep me as the president of the company; and indirectly by changing compensation plans that will force me to alter or change my decision-making that will help their benefit as owners.

In 1998, Biopure Corporation is one of the three legitimate contenders in the emerging field of “blood substitutes”. Biopure has invested $200M on the R&D on blood substitutes in the past with its primary goal being the development of a human blood substitute ( Hemopure) but Its entry into animal market (Oxyglobin) had been some

company was one of the first to develop recombinant proteins using genetic technology. Two of its

Members Characteristics – Overall, Hausman did a good job on assembling his board of directors. When determining who will make a good board member there are several things to look for. First a good board has an expert in legal matters, accounting, marketing, human resources, and finance. The only expert missing from RO’s board is a human resources expert. Next it is important to ensure that all board members will be able to regularly attend meetings. While most board members were local, several were not, and it was an area RO could improve. Also for outside members of the board, it is important to have knowledge of the industry and/or target market. With the appointment of the EVP of a large health snack company, Hausman made a good appointment (although location is an issue), but the knowledge that the CEO of the tech company may bring to the table may not be valuable. Finally, it is important to have complimentary personality traits. Overall, the RO’s board of directors is a strong, valuable board.

Students should see that the risks of the biotech business are driving all of MoGen’s financial decisions: debt policy, dividend policy, and share repurchase program. Debt is relatively low because higher debt levels would result in debt rating decreases and therefore higher interest rates. Similarly, the company chooses to pay no dividends because of the risk of being forced to cut the dividend during the difficult times that invariably arise in a biotech business. Students should realize that a share repurchase program is a very good match for a biotech company like MoGen. The company can distribute cash to its shareholders when profits allow, but without making an explicit (debt) or implicit (dividends) promise to the market.

Bionym. Founded in 2011, Bionym is a Toronto based company that designs and manufactures smart wearable device. Before the company was officially registered, its CEO Karl Martin spent six years in laboratory studying biometrics, cryptography, and security systems. Currently, Bionym has 30 employees working in six departments: Executive department, Marketing and design department, Business development department, Engineering and product management department, Hardware and manufacturing department and Finance and operations management department.

Session 1 begins in a lecture format in which the executives of Train Corp will introduce the company, company philosophy, and a brief background of their experience. The lecture then moves to an in-depth evaluation of Genzyme’s employee survey as well as an evaluation of Train Corp’s findings. The lecture intends to clarify main areas needing improvement as well as the areas in which Genzyme is succeeding in regards to communication. The presentation should require 45 minutes allowing another 45 minutes for a follow-up group activity in which the 48 executives will be divided into smaller groups. These smaller groups will work through conflict-based situations, in which the group is given a task and must work together to develop a solution.

The key issue is to determine when Oxyglobin should be introduced to the market without jeopardizing Hemopure’s potential and how it should be marketed.

In 1998, Biopure Corporation is one of the three legitimate contenders in the emerging field of “blood substitutes” along with Baxter International and Northfield

Early in 1997, Genzyme Corporation began negotiations with Geltex Pharmaceuticals in an attempt to launch a joint venture to market Geltex's first product, RenaGel. Geltex was a young biotech research company with only two products in its pipeline, and they didn't have the resources necessary to launch RenaGel on their own. Genzyme, on the other hand, was a quickly growing company that experienced revenues of $518 million in 1996. They were attracted to the joint venture with Geltex because of the likelihood of increased earnings, as well as the joint venture being an excellent fit for Genzyme's specialty therapeutics. Genzyme also felt that the joint venture would lead to a similar deal in launching Geltex's second product, CholestaGel.

The basic principal relating to the administration of the affairs of a company is that “the will of the majority is supreme”. The general rule is that the decisions of the majority shareholders in a company bind the minority. 1 In a world that recognizes ‘simple majority rules’, minority shareholders of companies are by default vulnerable to oppression,