Roche’s Rejects May Again Rejuvenate Swiss Biotechnology Scene
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Roche Holding AG’s plan to reduce costs may cast off drug discovery projects, providing a boost to Switzerland’s ailing biotechnology industry and venture capitalists seeking to create health-care companies.
Roche has already seeded a number of Swiss biotech start-ups, including the spinoff of Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. in 2000 to pursue antibiotic research. Actelion Ltd., Switzerland’s largest biotech company, was started in 1997 by Roche scientists to develop medicines the drugmaker had axed, including a treatment for a lung condition that now has annual sales of more than $1 billion.