Friday, June 11, 2010

The Cure by Geeta Anand. Regan... Original of "Extraordinary Measures"

Listed an impressive part for me
in "The Cure".

The Bluff
"Ceravance is an improved third generation product," he continued, using the name John had coined in his office only a week earlier.  On the slide, a little R with a circle around it floated over the word Ceravance, indicating that the name was trademarked. 
     At this, van Heek, who had gotten up and was pacing at the back of the room as Canfield presented the scientific results, stopped and shook his head, half in disbelief, half in dismay.  Now John was sure the $2,500 spent on a patent attorney to apply for the trademark was well worth it.

 
The Deal
John scheduled an emergency meeting of his board for the following Monday.  Then he called the directors separately on the phone to see where each was leaning.  As he had expected, the board members' opinions varied considerably, with some wanting to consider the offer and others dismissing it outright.


If John were at Genzyme, he'd have backups: the Pharming and Duke enzymes.  Even if they were far from perfect, they had saved the lives of some patients.  If Canfield stumbled, these enzymes might be a bridge for his kids, keeping them alive until something better came along.  They could be his insurance against the failure of his own company's product. 
     With that thought, John knew where he stood
.  He put his feet up on his desk, looked at the clock, and waited for 10 P.M. to call Canfield.
     The next day, June 18, John awoke feeling clear headed.  Canfield had agreed with the decision to push the Genzyme deal, and John had slept well confident that it was the best.  now he had to focus his energy on convincing his venture inventors to go with Genzyme.  He knew that the investors at Perseus Soros and Catalyst were leaning toward the Genentech proposal, but hat Gus at HealthCare Ventures was an advocate for the Genzyme deal.


Should he call van Heek or Henri and demand that they set Landy straight?  He thought back to a class he'd taken at Harvard Business School called "Coordination, Control, and Management of Organizations."  An inexperienced executive would go running to the boss for help, he decided.  A seasoned player would lay low, gather more information, and go to the boss with a clear plan of action.  He would stick to his original plan. 
     Reluctantly, John picked up the phone and scanned down the list of emplyees he'd been told played significant roles in the company's Pompe program.


He scheduled a kickoff meeting of the Pompe leadership team for the week before Thanksgiving.  To establish its significance, he didn't hold the meeting in Genzyme's offices but reserved a conference room at the trendy and expensive University Park Hotel
on nearby Sidney Street.


We've got to do something big, real big...
     Canfield, with the largest share of the company, earned about $30 million.  The two big venture firms each exited with $28 million.  And John, who owned less than 5 percent, mainly from stock options given to management, netted $6 millions.















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