黑料吃瓜资源 Press publishes Conscience and Courage, the remarkable life story of former Genzyme CEO and rare disease pioneer, Henri Termeer
Author John Hawkins has written a well-researched biography about Termeer鈥檚 legacy鈥攈ow he built a global biotech giant, Genzyme, and mentored a new generation of business leaders who continue to relentlessly challenge conventional innovation models and bring new novel treatments to patients around the world.
Cold Spring Harbor, NY 鈥� 黑料吃瓜资源 Press (CSHL Press) today announced the publication of . Written by John Hawkins, a biotech industry expert, long-time consultant to healthcare CEOs and Board Chairmen, and Vice Chairman and Director of Odgers Berndtson, LLC, Conscience and Courage provides insights into Henri Termeer鈥檚 extraordinary life and his transformational approaches and actionable steps used to reshape research and development strategies in biotech.
鈥淏iotech鈥檚 scientific luminaries are widely known, its business pioneers less so,鈥� said Dr. John Inglis, Publisher and Executive Director, CSHL Press. 鈥淲e are delighted to help John Hawkins put an overdue spotlight on Henri Termeer, an innovative executive who always put patients and their need for hope at the center of his healthcare strategy. Under his leadership, the small start-up Genzyme took a novel approach to research, development, and commercialization of treatments for rare diseases and became a biotech giant. John鈥檚 book charts this transformation but also Termeer鈥檚 personal evolution as a source of wisdom, guidance, and mentoring that continues to have an impact on the management teams of major corporations today.鈥�
Dutch-born, Termeer began his career in the healthcare industry and quickly rose to senior leadership positions. But in 1983, he changed course to join a two-year-old start-up, Genzyme, and over the next 28 years built a global Fortune 500 company with more than $4 billion in annual revenues and 14,400 employees. Under his mentorship, the Genzyme teams chose to forgo the traditional blockbuster approach to innovation and instead put patients at the center of their strategy. They focused on the development of breakthrough treatments for smaller groups of underserved patients suffering from rare diseases who had no other treatment options.
鈥淗enri Termeer is among the founders of the biotechnology industry, and, without doubt, he was the father of the crusade to discover, develop, and deliver novel therapies to rare disease patients,鈥� said author John Hawkins. 鈥淗is vision, courage, and exemplary leadership serve as a model for today鈥檚 and tomorrow鈥檚 biotech leaders. He was a generous humanitarian of high character who possessed a passion for patients and an unyielding optimism in facing the challenges he met in improving their lives. I wrote the book to not only reveal the inspirational magic of Termeer鈥檚 life, leadership, and lessons, but to recognize a giant, largely unknown, who did so much for the millions of patients, patient families, and caregivers who benefit daily from his contributions.鈥�
Thirty million people in the United States, 10% of the population, more than half of them children, have a 鈥渞are鈥� disease鈥攁n enduring, often life-threatening condition typically affecting fewer than 200,000 people. In the 1980s, drug companies were averse to the risky development of therapies for such small groups of patients that might require tens or hundreds of millions of dollars of investment. Henri Termeer succeeded in guiding Genzyme to the creation of a wealth of treatments for such conditions with a transformative approach that harnessed innovative biotechnology to a business model capable of sustaining its costs. And he was instrumental in the founding of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), which successfully advocated for the first legislation to give patients access to breakthrough and experimental therapies.
鈥淥ur long-time colleague, John Hawkins, has written a thoughtful, comprehensive book about an extraordinary man. Henri Termeer had all the hallmarks of a great leader, mentoring scores of other leaders and being an innovative, iconoclastic thinker,鈥� said Steve Potter, CEO of Odgers Berndtson US. 鈥淲e were delighted to help support John鈥檚 work in writing about the life and legacy of Henri Termeer.鈥�
In an accessible, engaging style, Conscience and Courage is a unique glimpse into the life and times of a business pioneer whose influence pervades today鈥檚 biotech and pharmaceutical sectors through his direct mentoring of more than 40 current and former CEOs. The book includes revealing, first-hand accounts from friends and colleagues based on more than 130 personal interviews with the author. Termeer鈥檚 story will intrigue general audiences, as well as readers interested in entrepreneurial leadership, the early development of biotechnology, medicine, business, and public policy.
Conscience and Courage is available in print and eBook formats online and at bookstores. Visit for more information.
Media/Press Contact(s)
Robert Redmond, Marketing Manager, 黑料吃瓜资源 Press
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About the Author(s)
John Hawkins is a biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry veteran and an expert in assessing the industry鈥檚 top executive and boardroom talent. For nearly four decades, John has encountered and studied many of the world鈥檚 best and brightest leaders in the life sciences arena. John鈥檚 personal exposure to Henri Termeer began through his involvement as a healthcare investment banker in the IPO heydays of the mid-1980s. Later, while serving as the CFO of a publicly held, pioneering mammalian cell culture firm and as a senior partner assessing and appointing more than 200 pharma/biotech Board Directors and CEOs, John accrued a unique contextual perspective on Termeer鈥檚 life and legacy. Father of three grown children and a resident of Charlottesville, Virginia, Hawkins has climbed four of the world鈥檚 Seven Summits.