Celgene: The new ‘Big Kid’ on the block April 13, 2010

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Celgene announced that it expects its blood cancer medicines, long the core of its business (Revlimid, Thalomid & Vidaza), to bring in $6 billion by 2015. Beyond the earliest product approvals which sparked its ascension, the company says a new psoriasis treatment could easily exceed $2-3 billion per year in revenue. Finally, CEO Sol Barer speaks to CNBC about the future & early progress in developing a stem cell treatment for Crohn’s disease.

The rise to dominance in the biotechnology industry continues for Celgene, a company that was not in the discussion with Amgen, Genentech, Chiron & Immunex less than ten years ago.

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A quiet superstar emerges in the biopharmaceutical industry December 18, 2009

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Sol Barer, CEO of Celgene, is not the most visible or PR savvy executive in the life sciences industry. His is, however, in the unique position as Founder, Chairman and CEO of one of the biggest biotechnology companies in the world. Last I checked there were not too many of that breed operating his company with a market cap of over $25 billion.

In this interview, he talks about the next frontier for Revlimed as a first-line treatment for myeloma and Celgene’s recent acquisition of Gloucester, a mostly unknown private entity, for over $600 million. If you haven’t paid attention to the upper ranks of the biotechnology industry, this is the company that will sneak up on you with $3B in annual revenue, 25% growth, $3B of cash in the bank a $25 Billion market cap twice as big as Biogen Idec or Genzyme and approaching that of Gilead Sciences. This is what happens when you develop two rock star cancer treatments from your pipeline through to commercialization without selling to Big Pharma.

The result, without question, Celgene is now one of the superstars of the biotechnology industry.