When ZymoGenetics Inc. decided it would develop recombinant human thrombin (rhThrombin; Recothrom) as the first product it would keep for itself, there was only one competitor on the market: Thrombin-JMI, a bovine thrombin approved in 1995 and sold by King Pharmaceuticals Inc.Johnson & Johnson had stopped selling its bovine thrombin in 1999, the threat of mad cow disease had closed off the European market, and JMI’s label had carried a boxed warning since 1996 about the severe bleeding risks associated with potential antibody formation.
To that point, the biotech had out-licensed its development programs, including a broad deal with Serono (now Merck Serono...