As the Puget Sound region’s biotech industry continues to grow, Seattle Genetics is leading the pack with its therapeutic for lymphoma on the market and two more late-stage products for bladder and breast cancer on the way.
“Seattle Genetics has reached a transformational point in its history,” CEO Clay Siegall told the Business Journal. “Seattle Genetics will remain focused on making a meaningful difference in cancer patients’ lives through discovering, developing and commercializing transformative therapies targeting cancer.”
The lymphoma drug ADCETRIS continues to grow as a “leading brand,” he said. It is available in 73 countries and is on pace to exceed $1 billion in global sales this year, Siegall said.
Siegall said he expects the bladder cancer drug to receive Federal Drug Administration approval in March. The breast cancer drug showed positive results released in October and the company plans to submit a new drug application to the FDA in the first quarter of next year, he said.
John Cox, of Alexandria Real Estate Equities, said “Seattle Genetics has the opportunity and potential to be that one shining star that was homegrown and will likely grow into a 10-plus-billion-dollar enterprise.” Would you like to respond to this? I think Seattle Genetics has the potential to be the “anchor tenant” in the way John Cox describes it. We have the best and the brightest employees and a rich development pipeline of potential cancer-fighting technologies to help propel us to a $10 billion-plus enterprise.
How can Seattle Genetics be an anchor biotech company for Seattle? Seattle Genetics is the largest biotechnology company based in the Pacific Northwest. Our company is on an exciting growth trajectory. Career opportunity and development are highly correlated with company growth and dynamism. You have that at Seattle Genetics in a big way.
Explain the kind of talent you attract to the region. Where do they come from? We attract talent to Seattle Genetics from all over the country. Making a real difference in the lives of patients with cancer is one of the main attractions we hear from prospective and current employees.
Have any other companies spun out of Seattle Genetics? While no companies have come out of Seattle Genetics, a few former executives now lead some local biotech companies. They include: Eric Dobmeier, former chief operating officer at Seattle Genetics, is president and CEO of Chinook Therapeutics; and Jonathan Drachman, former chief medical officer at Seattle Genetics, is CEO of Neoleukin Therapeutics.
When your workforce leaves Seattle Genetics, where do they go? Our overall attrition rate is low compared to other biotech companies. Employees who choose to leave the company do so for a variety of reasons, including new career opportunities, need to relocate, retirement, among others.
Where do you see the company in a decade? Bothell remains our corporate headquarters. We plan to continue expanding both our Bothell and Seattle locations. In addition to the Seattle area, we currently have a presence in San Francisco, Switzerland and, most recently, in the Netherlands.
