Forbes takes a close look at Genentech's new venture in immunology. After a string of huge successes in oncology, its researchers will now be judged by their success in a new field. Scientist Andy Chan has been brought in from UC San Francisco to help search for more effective therapies for rheumatoid arthritis. He's looking to new advances in genomics to identify the right approach. It's a risky bet, with some high-profile programs in the field that have already experienced trouble. RA drugs also aren't likely to fetch the big prices that cancer therapies can command.
"When I first came to Genentech," research chief Susan Desmond-Hellmann tells Forbes, "we were just starting to develop Avastin. Right now, immunology feels that way."
- read the article on Genentech from Forbes
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