BioCentury 20-Year Timeline By deepa Jan 11, 1993 BioCentury launched at H&Q BioCentury launched at H&Q See BioCentury, Jan. 11, 1993 Jan 18, 1993 Centocor halts Centoxin sepsis trial See BioCentury Extra, Jan. 18, 1993 Feb 8, 1993 BIO formed May 1, 1993 Human Genome Sciences and SmithKline sign the first big genomics deal Jul 23, 1993 Chiron's Betaseron first approved beta interferon See BioCentury, July 26, 1993 Nov 20, 1993 Clinton healthcare reform bill introduced See BioCentury Extra, Oct. 28, 1993 Mar 31, 1994 Millennium starts string of large genomics deals (Roche) See BioCentury, April 4, 1994 Sep 23, 1994 David Blech bank fails See BioCentury, Sept. 26, 1994 Nov 21, 1994 ReoPro approved (Sweden), changing angioplasty treatment See BioCentury Extra, Dec. 22, 1994 Dec 6, 1995 First HIV protease inhibitor, Roche's Invirase Jan 18, 1996 MedImmune's RespiGam approved to treat RSV See BioCentury, Jan. 22, 1996 Jul 2, 1996 Qiagen, first German biotech IPO See BioCentury, July 15, 1996 Jul 5, 1996 Dolly the sheep cloned Sep 15, 1997 Fenfluramine drugs withdrawn See BioCentury, Sept. 22, 1997 Nov 21, 1997 FDA Modernization Act becomes law See BioCentury, Nov. 10, 1997 Mar 11, 1998 British Biotech meltdown See BioCentury, March 16, 1998 Jul 16, 1998 Celgene's Thalomid approved for leprosy Sep 25, 1998 First targeted cancer therapy, Genentech's Herceptin See BioCentury, Sept. 8, 1998 Nov 2, 1998 FDA approves first TNF alpha inhibitor, Immunex's Enbrel, for RA Dec 1, 1998 Gates Foundation begins large-scale funding of neglected diseases Feb 20, 1999 U.K.'s NICE created Jun 4, 1999 Roche exercises option to acquire remainder of Genentech See BioCentury, June 7, 1999 Jul 20, 1999 Genentech: 2nd coming Jul 21, 1999 J&J buys Centocor for $4.9B See BioCentury, May 10, 1999 Sep 17, 1999 Jesse Gelsinger dies in gene therapy trial See BioCentury, Dec. 13, 1999 Dec 16, 1999 IPO window explodes See BioCentury, Dec. 20, 1999 Mar 14, 2000 Genomics bubble bursts on erroneous reports that genes can't be patented See BioCentury, March 20, 2000 Jun 26, 2000 Human genome sequenced Oct 23, 2000 Reg FD takes effect See BioCentury, Oct. 23, 2000 May 10, 2001 May 01 - FDA approves Novartis' Gleevec, changing CML from fatal to chronic Aug 9, 2001 Bush compromise on stem cells See BioCentury Extra, Aug. 9, 2001 Sep 11, 2001 9/11 and anthrax attacks spur biodefense See BioCentury, Oct. 8, 2001 Dec 16, 2001 Amgen acquires Immunex for $10.4B See BioCentury, Dec. 17, 2001 Jan 18, 2002 ImClone scandal See BioCentury, Jan. 22, 2002 Feb 22, 2002 First biotech financing >$1B, Amgen $2.5B convert Jul 30, 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley becomes law Sep 25, 2002 AnGes, first Japanese biotech IPO Feb 10, 2003 Spitzer Wall Street deal splits bankers and sellside See BioCentury, Feb. 10, 2003 Feb 26, 2003 SARS first reported in Asia Jun 23, 2003 Biogen, Idec merge See BioCentury, June 30, 2003 Feb 24, 2004 Yamanouchi, Fujisawa merge to form Astellas See BioCentury, March 8, 2004 Mar 24, 2004 Biocon IPO marks emergence of Indian biotech See BioCentury, April 12, 2004 Jul 21, 2004 Germany forms IQWiG to assess cost-benefit Sep 30, 2004 Merck pulls Vioxx See BioCentury, Oct. 4, 2004 Nov 2, 2004 California passes $3B stem cell initiative (Prop. 71) Feb 28, 2005 Biogen Idec, Elan suspend Tysabri sales See BioCentury, March 7, 2005 Jun 30, 2005 Europe creates biosimilar pathway See BioCentury, July 18, 2005 Jan 20, 2006 Sanofi's Ketek prompts FDA to reassess standards for antibiotics for community-acquired infections See BioCentury, June 26, 2006 Apr 17, 2006 EC approves first biosimilar, Sandoz's Omnitrope Jun 5, 2006 Tysabri relaunched See BioCentury, March 13, 2006 Jun 8, 2006 First vaccine to prevent cancer, Merck's Gardasil HPV vaccine Mar 9, 2007 FDA adds black box to ESA labels See BioCentury, March 12, 2007 Apr 23, 2007 AstraZeneca buys MedImmune for $15.6B See BioCentury, April 30, 2007 May 21, 2007 Avandia meta-analysis creates fear of CV side effects from diabetes drugs See BioCentury, May 28, 2007 Sep 4, 2007 NICE agrees to pay for performance deal for Velcade See BioCentury, June 18, 2007 Sep 27, 2007 FDA Amendments Act of 2007 becomes law See BioCentury, Sept. 24, 2007 Dec 17, 2008 FDA issues CV guidance for diabetes drugs See BioCentury, Dec. 15, 2008 Mar 9, 2009 Obama lifts ban on government funding of embryonic stem cell research Mar 12, 2009 Roche buys Genentech, again Jun 11, 2009 WHO declares H1N1 a pandemic Mar 23, 2010 Obama signs Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act See BioCentury, March 29, 2010 Apr 29, 2010 First cancer immunotherapy, Dendreon's Provenge See BioCentury, May 3, 2010 Apr 8, 2011 Sanofi acquires Genzyme for $20.1B + CVR May 13, 2011 First HCV protease inhibitors, Merck's Victrelis and Vertex's Incivek See BioCentury, June 20, 2011 Aug 17, 2011 First simultaneous approval of Rx-Dx combination since Herceptin, Zelboraf and companion Dx from Roche and Daiichi Sankyo for melanoma See BioCentury, Aug. 22, 2011