Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., long considered to be the cornerstone of a fast-emerging biotechnology cluster here in the Hudson Valley, was ranked the number one employer in the global biopharmaceutical industry by Science magazine.
Within hours of learning of the honor, Regeneron executives announced the company had secured Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of Eylea for the treatment of certain cases of macular edema, and that Eylea had also been recommended for approval for the treatment of neovascular, or wet, age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in the European Union.
Such is life at a biotech firm, said Regeneron founder, President and CEO Leonard S. Schleifer.
“You can muddle along for a decade or two and then you have a drug launch like we had earlier this year, and all of a sudden you”™re worth $14 billion on the stock market. And that”™s on the back of a product we”™d been working on for more than a decade,” Schleifer said, referring to Eylea, which was approved by the FDA for the treatment of wet AMD in November 2011.
Regeneron has enjoyed a banner year in 2012, with Schleifer projecting first-year sales of Eylea will be between $700 million and $750 million.
Success “happens much faster than you could”™ve ever dreamed,” Schleifer said, and starts with recruiting the best and brightest and from staying true to one”™s principles.
“We”™re in the business of helping people with diseases,” he said. “When you keep that paramount, the rest tends to follow.”
With more than 1,850 employees, Regeneron has facilities in Tarrytown, which functions as the corporate and research and development headquarters; Rensselaer, where the large-scale biologics manufacturing facility is housed; and Basking Ridge, N.J., where satellite offices are located.
In Science magazine”™s 2012 Top Employers survey, which will appear in the publication”™s October issue, Regeneron traded places with Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc., based in Cambridge, Mass., which ranked second after taking the top spot last year.
Rounding out the top five were Genentech, based in the San Francisco area, Novo Nordisk, based in Denmark, and Monsanto Co., based in Creve Coeur, Mo.
The annual survey was conducted from March 7 to March 21, with the results drawn from 4,276 responses to a web-based survey.
At Regeneron, which was founded in a studio apartment in New York City in 1988 and opened its first laboratory in 1989, researchers haven”™t always enjoyed a straight shot to success, Schleifer said, adding that there will be failures down the road.
The company”™s successes, he added, won”™t always be visible to the public.
“We”™re working on things in the lab today that won”™t see the light of day for a decade or more,” Schleifer said. “Our employees are going to get us there, so you have to create an environment that allows very talented people to succeed.”
For Regeneron, that means having a flexible workday for people who function better at unorthodox hours, allowing employees to form their own routines, and making every employee a part-owner of the company through a stock option program.
“We don”™t view our employees as commodities. We value them. We handpick them,” Schleifer said. “And we have fun along the way.”
Admittedly, Schleifer said, “We”™re not playing touch football in the halls as much as we used to” in the early years, when he recalls there were “a lot of late nights, pizza and touch football to break up the work.”
But, he said, “There”™s no shortage of things to work on.”
Regeneron invested $530 million in research and development in 2011, and is supported through collaborations with Sanofi and Bayer HealthCare.
The company has at least 12 drug candidates that are in various stages of testing and development, including drugs being engineered for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, certain allergic and immune conditions, eye diseases and cancerous tumors.
Regeneron”™s marketed products include Eylea, Arcalyst, which was approved by the FDA in February 2008 for the treatment of a rare condition known as Cryopyrin-Associated Periodic Syndromes (CAPS), and Zaltrap, which was approved by the FDA in August 2012 for the treatment of certain cases of metastatic colorectal cancer, or colon cancer.
After being approved for the treatment of wet AMD in 2011, Eylea was approved Sept. 21 by the FDA for the treatment of macular edema following central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO).
According to Regeneron, an estimated 100,000 people in the U.S. suffer from CRVO, which is caused by obstruction of the central retinal vein that leads to a backup of blood and fluid in the retina.
Also Sept. 21, the European Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use recommended Eylea for approval for the treatment of wet AMD in the EU, with a decision on approval expected in the four
