Gene Dreams: Wall Street, Academia, and the Rise of Biotechnology
Biotechnology in its early days held out the promise of instant medical breakthroughs, big profits for Wall Street investors, and a way to circumvent the bureaucracies of the major drug companies and the government regulatory system. But this "mouse-intensive industry" has gone through a severe retrenchment. In a hard-nosed, witty appraisal of the oversold biotech revolution, Financial World editor Teitelman investigates the technical obstacles, delays, litigation, inflated expenses and marketing misjudgments that beset the field, confirming his maxim, "There are no miracles, only developments." Although he focuses on the rise and fall of Genetic Systems, a Seattle company acquired by Bristol-Myers in 1985, Teitelman's probe extends to firms like Genentech and to the politics of cancer and AIDS research.Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.