On Jan. 10, 2002, ZymoGenetics, a former Novo Nordisk subsidiary, announced its IPO at $12.00 per share with net proceeds of $111.6 million. Following the IPO, Novo Nordisk held 39% of ZymoGenetic’s capital stock.

ZymoGenetics was founded in 1981 by UW professors Earl Davie and Benjamin Hall, and the late Nobel award winning University of British Columbia professor Michael Smith. Beginning in 1988, ZymoGenetics served as the primary U.S. discovery arm of Novo Nordisk.

In 2010, Bristol-Myers Squibb acquired ZymoGenetics after entering into a strategic collaboration to co-develop PEG-Interferon lambda. In 2016, Bristol-Myers Squibb announced that it would not renew its lease at the Lake Union Steam Plant site in Seattle, Washington in 2019.