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We talked about biotech’s beginnings. The closest thing we have to a Hewlett-Packard ‘two-guys-in-a-garage’ origin story is Robert Swanson & Herb Boyer teaming up to create Genentech.

A short reading list on biotech history 📚🧵👇 https://twitter.com/JorgeCondeBio/status/1356315231048192000
Genentech: The Beginnings of Biotech. Tells the story from the company’s founding in South San Francisco through its scientific triumphs, IPO and eventual acquisition. https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/G/bo8169877.html
Genentech

In the fall of 1980, Genentech, Inc., a little-known California genetic engineering company, became the overnight darling of Wall Street, raising over $38 million in its initial public stock offeri...

https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/G/bo8169877.html
The Billion-Dollar Molecule. Chronicles the stresses and struggles during the early days of Vertex Pharmaceuticals, one of Boston’s bright lights in biotech. https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Billion-Dollar-Molecule/Barry-Werth/9780671510572
The Billion-Dollar Molecule

Join journalist Barry Werth as he pulls back the curtain on Vertex, a start-up pharmaceutical company, and witness firsthand the intense drama being...

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Billion-Dollar-Molecule/Barry-Werth/9780671510572
The Antidote. A sequel to Billion-Dollar Molecule that follows Vertex’s next acts over two decades to become one of the world’s leading biotech companies. https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Antidote/Barry-Werth/9781451655674
The Antidote

In this timely and much praised book, Barry Werth draws upon inside reporting that spans more than two decades. He provides a groundbreaking close-up...

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Antidote/Barry-Werth/9781451655674
The Cure: How a Father Raised $100 Million—And Bucked the Medical Establishment—In a Quest to Save His Children. John Crowley starts up Novazyme for his children, eventually selling to Genzyme. (I played a bit part in this story; it changed my own course) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0060734396/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_awdb_imm_t1_61KJZ8GQQTH884AG0BZ3
The Cure: How a Father Raised $100 Million--And Bucked the Medical Establishment--In a Quest to...

The Cure: How a Father Raised $100 Million--And Bucked the Medical Establishment--In a Quest to Save His Children

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0060734396/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_awdb_imm_t1_61KJZ8GQQTH884AG0BZ3
From Alchemy to IPO. Published nearly 20 yrs ago, it’s pretty dated now. But it details the early history of the biotech industry’s pioneering companies. It was an essential text for me when I was starting my career. https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/cynthia-robbins-roth/from-alchemy-to-ipo/9780738204826/
From Alchemy To Ipo

It is impossible to dispute the extraordinary impact biotechnology is having on our everyday lives. From Alchemy to IPO presents the dramatic story of the re...

https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/cynthia-robbins-roth/from-alchemy-to-ipo/9780738204826/
What did I miss? Any other essential reads on the history of the biotech industry? Please add your reading list recommendations!
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