Celltech

{{Short description|Former British-based biotechnology firm}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Use British English|date=March 2024}} {{Infobox company | name = Celltech Group | logo = Celltechlogo.PNG | type = Public | fate = Acquired | successor = UCB | founded = 1980 | defunct = 2004 | hq_location = Slough, UK | industry = Biotechnology | key_people = Goran Ando (CEO) | products = | num_employees = | parent = | subsidiaries = }} '''Celltech Group plc''' was a leading British-based biotechnology business based in Slough. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. Celltech was instrumental in changing the UK's system of technology transfer from research to business, and in creating the biotechnology industry.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Dodgson |first=Mark |author-link=Mark Dodgson |date=June 1990 |title=The Shock of the New: The Formation of Celltech and the British Technology Transfer System |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/095042229000400205 |journal=Industry and Higher Education |language=en |volume=4 |issue=2 |pages=97–104 |doi=10.1177/095042229000400205 |issn=0950-4222|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==History==

Celltech was formed in 1980 in response to the concern that Britain was failing to commercialise its science and was missing out on the potential of the new biotechnology. There was especial concern that whereas US firms had been creating rapidly growing firms such as Genentech around scientific discoveries in biotechnology, the UK had missed opportunities such as that believed to be provided by the Nobel Prize-winning discovery of the production technique for Monoclonal antibody by Cesar Milstein and Georges Kohler at Cambridge University.<ref name=":0" />

The creation of Celltech was complicated, involving the National Enterprise Board, the National Research Development Corporation, and the Medical Research Council. The decision was made to give Celltech exclusive rights to all biotechnology discoveries in UK research institutions and universities. Although the company was conceived under a Labour Government it was born under a Conservative government, with the Minister responsible, Sir Keith Joseph, being particularly averse to government intervention in industry. As a result, he ensured the company was majority owned by the private sector. The company thus began life with very high expectations: first, that a small start up could successfully commercialise the UK's scientific output in biotechnology, and second, that it could meet the profit expectations of private sector investors.<ref>Dodgson, M. (1990) Celltech: The First Ten Years of A Biotechnology Company, Discussion Paper Series, Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex, February 1990.</ref>

Celltech's founding CEO was Gerard Fairtlough, who worked in the National Enterprise Board and saw the opportunities presented by biotechnology. He created the plan for Celltech and when the Board was created, it believed he was the best person to lead it. Fairtlough was an inspirational leader with innovative ideas on organisation.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fairtlough |first=Gerard |author-link=Gerard Fairtlough |title=The Handbook of Industrial Innovation |publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing |year=1994 |isbn=1852786558 |veditors=Dodgson M, Rothwell R |publication-date=1994 |pages=325–6 |chapter=26. Innovation and Organization}}</ref> In the decade that Fairtlough led Celltech, he not only helped found a significant scientific endeavour whose example led to improved ambition and ability to commercialise UK research, but introduced a new way of organising high technology firms.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dodgson |first=Mark |author-link=Mark Dodgson |title=The Management of Technological Learning |publisher=De Gruyter |year=1991 |series=de Gruyter Studies in Organization |volume=29 |location=Berlin, Boston|pages=25–37|doi=10.1515/9783110867749|isbn=978-3-11-086774-9 }}</ref>

In 1999 Celltech led consolidation in the UK biosciences market merging with Chiroscience plc, after which it was briefly referred to as '''Celltech Chiroscience''',<ref>{{Cite news |last=Macalister |first=Terry |date=January 19, 2000 |title=Biotech sector finds new life |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-guardian-biotech-sector-finds-new-li/26480702/ |access-date=27 March 2024 |work=The Guardian |location=London, England |page=27 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Finch |first=Julia |date=16 June 1999 |title=£700m merger fuels biotech 'arms race' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-guardian-merger-fuels-biotech-arms-r/26482019/ |access-date=27 March 2024 |work=The Guardian |location=London, England |page=21 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> and then buying Medeva plc.<ref>[http://www.allbusiness.com/medicine-health/diseases-disorders-musculoskeletal/9193770-1.html UK Biotech Industry Consolidates As Celltech Buys Medeva for $915m]{{dead link|date=December 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Then in 2000 it bought Cistron, a US biosciences business.<ref>[http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-61301896.html UK's Celltech Buys Cistron of the US]{{dead link|date=December 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> It expanded into Germany in 2001 buying Thiemann, a German biosciences business,<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=11 September 2001 |title=Celltech acquires German sales and marketing firm Thiemann for $44.6 m |url=https://www.thepharmaletter.com/article/celltech-acquires-german-sales-and-marketing-firm-thiemann-for-44-6-mill |url-status= |website=The Pharma Letter |publication-place=London}}</ref> and went on to buy Oxford Glycosciences in July 2003 for £102m.<ref>[http://www.isis-innovation.com/spinout/oxglycosciences.html ISIS] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140917070426/http://www.isis-innovation.com/spinout/oxglycosciences.html |date=September 17, 2014 }}</ref> Celltech was acquired by UCB, a Belgian drugmaker, in 2004.<ref>{{cite news |last= |date=18 May 2004 |title=Celltech sold to Belgian firm in £1.5bn deal |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2004/may/18/businessofresearch.money |access-date=27 March 2024 |work=The Guardian |edition=US}}</ref>

==Operations== The company was engaged in research and development of therapies for patients with serious diseases. Products included:<ref>[http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=26449 Businessweek: Celltech Group] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120908073949/http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=26449 |date=September 8, 2012 }}</ref> * Tussionex for coughs * Zaroxolyn for resistant edema * Methylphenidate for ADHD * Amphetamine for ADHD and narcolepsy, as 5 mg Dexedrine tablets * Semprex-D, an antihistamine and decongestant * Inotuzumab ozogamicin and gemtuzumab ozogamicin, both through Celltech's collaboration with Wyeth.<ref name=Damle2003>{{cite journal|last1=Damle|first1=NK|last2=Frost|first2=P|title=Antibody-targeted chemotherapy with immunoconjugates of calicheamicin.|journal=Current Opinion in Pharmacology|date=August 2003|volume=3|issue=4|pages=386–90|doi=10.1016/S1471-4892(03)00083-3|pmid=12901947}}</ref>

Amongst the work conducted at Celltech was the cloning of the glutamine synthetase (GS) gene in CHO cells leading to the creation of a biotechnology tool still widely used to express recombinant eukaryotic proteins.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Tim Harris |title=A British Biotech Biopedia: Early Days in the U.K. |url=https://www.genengnews.com/insights/a-british-biotech-biopedia-early-days-in-the-u-k/ |website=Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News |date=4 October 2021 |access-date=18 May 2024}}</ref>

== Notable alumni == in 2025 Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell were among the three recipients of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for work<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ramsdell |first=Fred |date=2003-08-01 |title=Foxp3 and Natural Regulatory T Cells: Key to a Cell Lineage? |url=https://www.cell.com/immunity/abstract/S1074-7613(03)00207-3 |journal=Immunity |language=English |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=165–168 |doi=10.1016/S1074-7613(03)00207-3 |issn=1074-7613}}</ref> on a mutation in the FOXP3 gene which affects Regulatory T cells, and their role in autoimmune diseases such as Type 1 diabetes. The citation from the Nobel Institute states that the prize was awarded for ''"their discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance."''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2025 |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2025/press-release/ |access-date=2025-10-06 |website=NobelPrize.org |language=en-US}}</ref> The pair performed this research at the Bothell, WA Celltech laboratory.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2025/popular-information/|title=Popular information: They understood how the immune system is kept in check|publisher=The Nobel Prize|access-date=6 October 2025}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist|33em}}

{{Pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry in the United Kingdom}}

Category:Pharmaceutical companies established in 1980 Category:Companies based in Slough Category:Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange Category:1980 establishments in England Category:Pharmaceutical companies disestablished in 2004 Category:2004 disestablishments in England

Celltech

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