Page 22 - Westchester County Economic Development Guide 2013
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George D. Yancopoulos, M.D., Ph.D.
President & Chief Scientific Officer
Regeneron Laboratories:
One of the 10 largest biotech
companies in the country, having grown to about 2,000
employees since opening labs in Tarrytown in 1989. Beyond its
three FDA-approved products – ARCALYST
®
(rilonacept) for a
rare “orphan” autoinflammatory disease, EYLEA
®
(aflibercept)
Injection for age-related macular degeneration and ZALTRAP
®
(ziv-aflibercept) Injection for patients with previously treated
metastatic colorectal cancer – Regeneron has many drug
candidates in development.
WHY WESTCHESTER:
“[Regeneron founder Leonard
Schleifer, M.D., PhD.,] and I are both long-time New Yorkers
and we wanted to create a company here, although at the time
there was little biotech in the New York area.”
LESSONS LEARNED:
“Failure is a part of the process
– you have to learn from it and use it to re-invent your
company to withstand failure (by not betting it all on only one
opportunity) and ultimately figure out how to succeed.”
biotech
Rooted In
Success
SECRET TO SUCCESS:
“Willingness to
risk failure, and to believe in the science and
innovation capability of very talented people.”
REWARDING MOMENT:
“With our
first drug approval (ARCALYST), when the
patients suffering from the rare disease talked
about how our drug made a difference in their
lives and allowed them to live a normal life
for the first time; and more recently, at the
end of 2011, with the launch of our second
drug, EYLEA, for macular degeneration, the
heartfelt reports we received back from doctors
and patients of those who were responding to
our drug and gaining vision, some of whom
had been failing all prior therapies and going
blind. It made us feel that we were realizing
our childhood dreams (as budding scientists)
that we could use science to make a difference
in people’s lives!”
You have to go for it, be
willing to fail but learn from
it, and
get involvedwith
really smart and creative
people.
…You can listen to
so-called experts’ advice,
but don’t necessarily follow
it if you don’t believe in
it –
believe in your own
judgment.
‘‘
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| Westchester County Economic Development Guide
