When is Small Beautiful in Biotech?

Abstract

This book is the product of a one-year historical study of the UK new biotechnology firm (NBF) Celltech, commissioned by the company and compiled on the basis of full access to its records and staff.' Celltech was established in 1980 as a major plank in UK policy for the new biotechnology. In spite of a struggling first decade, Celltech has grown to nearly 500 employees with a turnover of?20 million in 1989, of which 90% is in exports. By narrow commercial criteria its performance has not been stunning it scraped into profitability in 1987, and even now has little chance of returning substantial profits for some years. On the other hand, it is the most significant NBF in Europe and ranks among the world's top dozen. Moreover, it has a reputation for being extremely well managed and for having built up a formidable technological base. On this basis, it hopes to become a fully integrated pharmaceutical company in the longer term. From a policy viewpoint, Celltech is not just another new technology-based firm. Its story is interesting because Celltech's formation was a novel and creative attempt to solve the British problem of being 'good at science but bad at its commercialization' a problem highlighted when the Medical Research Council (MRC) failed to patent the hybridoma techniques to produce monoclonal antibodies invented in one of its laboratories (one of the two key breakthroughs in 'genetic engineering'). Celltech was founded with a