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ZymoGenetics' Biotech Disconnect

It's logical to think that synthetic thrombin is safer than bovine- or plasma-derived equivalents. But ZymoGenetics is finding out that it's not an easy sell, especially to Wall Street.

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...

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