F. Hoffmann-La Roche
F. Hoffmann–La Roche Ltd. is a Swiss global health-care company that operates worldwide under two divisions: Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics. Its holding company, Roche Holding AG, has shares listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange.
The company headquarters are located in Basel and the company has many sites around the world - including: Nutley, NJ, Palo Alto, California, Pleasanton, Branchburg, Fishers, Indiana, Florence, South Carolina, Boulder, Colorado and Ponce, Puerto Rico in the US, Welwyn Garden City and Burgess Hill in the UK, Clarecastle in Ireland, Mannheim and Penzberg in Germany, and Shanghai in China.
The company also owns the American biotechnology company Genentech, which is a wholly owned subsidiary, and the Japanese biotechnology company Chugai Pharmaceuticals.
Biogen Idec
Biogen Idec, Inc. is a biotechnology company specializing in drugs for neurological disorders, autoimmune disorders and cancer. The company was formed in 2003 by the merger of Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Biogen Inc. and San Diego, California-based IDEC Pharmaceuticals (formed in 1986 by biotech pioneers Ivor Royston and Howard Birndorf). Biogen, one of the oldest biotechnology companies, was founded in 1978 by several biologists, including Phillip Sharp of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Walter Gilbert of Harvard (who served as CEO during the start-up phase).