On Jun. 4, 1981, Genetic Systems announced an Initial Public Offering (IPO) taking advantage of the initial Wall Street biotech boom, capitalizing on the early excitement surrounding genetic engineering and monoclonal antibodies.

The company was founded in Seattle as a monoclonal antibody-based diagnostic company by Robert Nowinski of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center with $40 million raised by David and Isaac Blech. Nowinski was previously head of the virology lab at the Hutchinson Center prior to joining the startup. When he left the laboratory to become chairman and CEO of the new venture, he brought his entire 16-person research team with him.

Nowinski, negotiated exclusive rights to 37 antibodies from his former employer, the Fred Hutchinson Center Research Center, then sublicensed them to another company for $3.7 million (Wilson and Heath, 2001). Going after diagnostic applications was a more rapid path to profits, Genetic Systems’ initial product was a Chlamydia diagnostic. The company was acquired by Bristol-Myers Squibb for $310 million, and on Feb. 4, 1986, was divested to Sanofi on April 19, 1990.