Sanofi Genzyme Donates Corporate Archives to Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School's Baker Library.Photo: Michael Weymouth BOSTON—Harvard Business School (HBS) announced today that Cambridge, Mass.-based Sanofi Genzyme, the largest biotechnology company in the state and an innovator in the global biotechnology industry, has agreed to begin donating materials to create an extensive archival collection, spanning the more than three decades since the company’s founding in 1981, to the Historical Collections of HBS’s Baker Library. Led from 1983 to 2011 by “life sciences legend” and former Genzyme CEO Henri Termeer, the company has long been a pioneer in the research and development of innovative drugs for the treatment of rare genetic diseases and other illnesses such as multiple sclerosis and thyroid cancer. Providing “hope where there was none before” through therapeutic products for both children and adults, the company now serves patients in more than 100 countries around the world. Beginning as a startup in downtown Boston with a mere handful of employees, Genzyme now has revenues of $4 billion, with offices and laboratories in more than 40 nations. In 2011, the French drug giant Sanofi purchased Genzyme Corporation, and today the company is known as Sanofi Genzyme. 
Genzyme's Henri Termeer“Our archives are an extraordinary resource for understanding the creation and growth of companies that broke new ground in their day, from railroads to the textile and financial services industries,” said Laura Linard, the Director of Baker Library’s Historical Collections. “Since its days as a new venture, Genzyme has been an innovative and influential part of the burgeoning biotech space – ‘the industry’s Apple, blazing a pathway for creating treatments for rare diseases,’ as the Boston Globe once described the company. We are delighted and honored to begin archiving this collection of papers and other materials, highlighting Genzyme’s history and its impact on the development of the biotechnology industry, particularly in New England. Beyond that, these materials also help tell the story of Boston and Cambridge as world-class centers of innovation.” “The Baker Library provides us with a perfect venue for making Genzyme’s archives accessible to future generations of scholars and students who want to learn about the decisions that led to the success of our company,” said Executive Vice President and Head of Sanofi Genzyme, David Meeker, MD. “We are happy to begin donating these materials to our neighbors at Harvard Business School, forever preserving the legacy of Genzyme.” According to Baker Library’s Linard, materials in the Genzyme Archive, as permitted by the company and determined by the course needs of Harvard Business School faculty members, may also be incorporated into the Harvard Business School curriculum, become the subjects of HBS cases, and be used as sources for doctoral theses and books. They will also support emerging trends in contemporary and future scholarship and be used to explain parallels between current and past events. ABOUT SANOFI Sanofi Genzyme focuses on developing specialty treatments for debilitating diseases that are often difficult to diagnose and treat, providing hope to patients and their families. Learn more at www.sanofigenzyme.com. Genzyme® is a registered trademark of Genzyme Corporation. All rights reserved. |
Jim Aisner
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Harvard Business School
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