Genset Corporation

Genset, a biotechnology company, was established in 1989 in Paris, France with Pascal Brandys as its first president [ Genset - 1989 [http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/b02/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=298070 Harvard Business Online] Paul A. Gompers, Amy L. Burroughs ] .

Genset was listed on the NASDAQ and the Paris Bourse (now NYSE Euronext) in 1996 Genset Initial Public Offering [http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/b02/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=297097 Harvard Business Online] Paul A. Gompers, Jeffrey Anapolsky ] . Genset rapidly became the European flagship company ] in the field of genomics and became the second largest biotechnology company in Europe in 1999. At that time, the company reported identifiable assets of EUR 80.9 million and had subsidiaries in the United States, Japan, Singapore, and Australia. Genset was a pioneer in private human genome research [ Capitalizing on the genome [http://www.nature.com/ng/wilma/v13n1.867861436.html Nature Genetics 13, 1-1 (1996)] Editorial ] . In 1994, Genset started the first large scale program to analyze the regulatory sequences of the human genome and in 1997 also initiated the construction of a map of single nucleotide polymorphisms as a tool to accelerate the discovery of genes associated with diseases [ Drug firms discuss linking up to pursue disease-causing genes [http://www.grain.org/bio-ipr/?id=208 The Wall Street Journal (4 March 1999)] Robert Langreth, Michael Waldhoz and Stephen D. Moore] [Decoding the literature on genetic variation [http://www.nature.com/nbt/journal/v21/n1/full/nbt0103-21.html Nature Biotechnology 21, 21-29 (2003)] Roger Coronini ] . The company also created the business model of pharmacogenomics and started the first pharmacogenomics research program in the world in collaboration with Abbott Laboratories in 1997 [ Pharmacogenomics [http://www.nature.com/nbt/journal/v18/n10s/full/nbt1000_IT40.html Nature Biotechnology 18, 40-42 (2000)] Technologies] .

After 2000 Genset changed its strategy to focus on drug development, leading to the departure of its president and other founders. The strategy shift proved unsuccessful and Genset was acquired by Serono of Switzerland in 2002, now part of Merck Serono.

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