The summer session of the American Society of Clinical Oncology placed the crown of premier drug developer on the corporate head of Genentech. The world's No. 2 biotech company dominated the news from Orlando with a series of startling trial developments in new drugs. "It's what you live for," exulted Susan Desmond-Hellman, president of product development.
Among the highlights: Tarceva made history as Genentech unveiled a series of trials that showed its effectiveness against different cancers. In 2005, Rituxan advanced, Lucentis demonstrated its effectiveness against blindness and late-stage Herceptin data showed its effectiveness against breast cancer.
Genentech's work demonstrated that a single biotech company could successfully push a host of new drug trials and significantly advance the frontiers of medicine. This year has laid the groundwork for even more advances in the years to come with a host of new collaborations and new trials. Genentech has every reason to view 2005 as an unqualified triumph. It's a victory--or a series of victories--that sheds a positive light on what biotechnology is capable of achieving. Genentech's story has helped clarify the major role that biologics will play in the research and development of new therapies.