Genset Corporation

Genset, a biotechnology company, was established in 1989 in Paris, France with Pascal Brandys as its first president. Genset was listed on NASDAQ and the Paris Bourse (now NYSE Euronext) in 1996. Genset rapidly became the European flagship in the field of genomics and the second largest biotechnology company in Europe in 1999. Genset was a pioneer in private human genome research. For example, Genset started in 1994 the first large scale program to analyze the regulatory sequences of the human genome and also initiated in 1997 the construction of a map of single nucleotide polymorphisms as a tool to accelerate the discovery of genes associated with diseases. 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. After 2000 Genset changed its strategy to focus on drug development leading to the departure of its president and other scientific founders. The strategy shift proved unsuccessful and Genset was acquired by Serono of Switzerland in 2002, now part of Merck Serono.

Sources and references
Genset - 1989 Harvard Business Online Paul A. Gompers, Amy L. Burroughs

Genset Initial Public Offering Harvard Business Online Paul A. Gompers, Jeffrey Anapolsky

Capitalizing on the genome Nature Genetics 13, 1-1 (1996) Editorial

Drug firms discuss linking up to pursue disease-causing genes The Wall Street Journal (4 March 1999) Robert Langreth, Michael Waldhoz and Stephen D. Moore

Pharmacogenomics Nature Biotechnology 18, 40-42 (2000) Technologies

Decoding the literature on genetic variation Nature Biotechnology 21, 21-29 (2003) Roger Coronini