R-PR Gencell A New Model Of Development

R-PR Gencell, the newly-created biotechnology division of Rhone-Poulenc Rorer (Marketletter November 21) represents a new model for pharmaceutical research and development through virtual integration, said Thierry Soursac, senior vice president at R-PR and general manager of R-PR Gencell, speaking at a press meeting in London to outline the goals and objectives of the new division.

Dr Soursac said that most companies, including the newer biotechnology companies, rely on one or two technologies to develop products in the area of biotechnology. However, he noted, the field is so new that a company needs access to as many different technologies as possible as it is impossible to predict which technologies will be most useful in the future.

"This is where R-PR Gencell is the ideal structure for success in the burgeoning field of new technology," he said. The division will operate at the core of the biotech alliance and will engineer products from discoveries of its partners. The goal is to form a "toolbox" of technologies, said Dr Soursac, from which the core components needed to develop a particular cell or gene therapy product can be selected.