BioCentury
ARTICLE | Strategy

Times changed

ZymoGenetics, being swallowed by BMS, reminds that business models must adapt

October 4, 2010 7:00 AM UTC

By acquiring ZymoGenetics Inc. for $885 million in cash, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. will get full ownership of PEG-Interferon lambda in a bet that interferons will remain an essential part of HCV treatment for years to come. It is a bet that the biotech had been hoping to make along its way to becoming a protein drug powerhouse. But the story has turned out differently.

While the price is an 84% premium to ZymoGenetic's close the day before the offer was announced, it is less than the total money invested into the company since 1988...