Genesis beefs up strategic development with new hiring

New Zealand's Genesis Research and Development Corporation has persuaded long-serving director Dr Douglas Williams to join the company as head of its new strategic development unit, as part of its plan to make hay while it waits for the sun to rise again on the biotech industry.

Williams has resigned as senior vice-president for basic research with the world's largest biotech company, Amgen, to join Dr Andrew Shenk, former head of Genesis' plant division, in the new unit.

Genesis CEO Jim Watson said the company was delighted with the new appointment, saying Williams' experience, commercial acumen, international reputation, and network of contacts would be of "incalculable benefit" to Genesis

Watson said Genesis wanted to evolve from a New Zealand-based discovery company into an organisation developing commercial products for the international market.

Rather than simply ride out the global slump in the biotech industry, Watson said Genesis would use the opportunity to become more competitive scientifically, and to learn how to respond more rapidly to emerging commercial opportunities.

The new strategic development unit will work to step up the rate at which Genesis commercialises its discoveries.

Williams is a former head of the discovery research department of the US vaccine company Immunex, and became a vice-president with Amgen when it acquired Immunex in July this year.

Genesis is itself involved in developing therapeutic human vaccines for auto-immune disorders and cancers.

The company also has a strong presence in plant biotechnology research, with a focus on forestry species including radiata pine and eucalypts.