Timelines: 1988
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Regeneron, Inc.
Reversal of fortune
Regeneron is founded in Tarrytown, New York by Dr. Leonard Schleifer, an M.D. and Ph.D. from the University of Virginia. Dr. Schleifer establishes the company with the goal of discovering treatments for diseases of the brain and central nervous system. The company's proprietary technology is designed to regenerate neurons.
In 1995, Regeneron expands its research to encompass a wide range of disease targets in oncology, ophthalmology, and immunology, but is soon beset by disheartening failures. Twice in the next few years, the company's candidate therapies for Lou Gehrig’s disease fail to perform in clinical trials. Investors are disheartened; the firm's stock plunges. In 2008, the clouds part and the sun reappears when Regeneron introduces its first product, Arcalyst®. The FDA approves Arcalyst® for the treatment of cryopyrin-associated periodic syndromes (autoinflammatory syndromes).
Today, Regeneron concentrates on the invention of humanized antibodies therapeutics. The company has a well-stocked pipeline of potential treatments for a broad range of human diseases (including gout, age-related macular degeneration, central retinal vein occlusion, inflammatory autoimmune and allergic conditions, pain, hypercholesterolemia, and various forms of cancer), in various stages of development and testing.
