(UPDATE: This story has added information at the end about openings at the Institute for Systems Biology.)
Mass firings dominate the news almost every day now, yet some companies are still hiring. Since a lot of highly-skilled and experienced people have been thrown out of work lately, I thought I’d check around to see where some of these talented folks might end up, and which organizations in Seattle’s life sciences industry are poised to benefit.
Here’s a rundown of the companies that have continued to grow in the recession for one reason or another. This isn’t a comprehensive list, so if you know of a life sciences organization I’m overlooking, please send me a note at [email protected] and I’ll make sure to update the story. We also want to hear from people hiring in other industries, like Seattle-based Big Fish Games, so give us a shout.
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
The world’s largest philanthropy is still plenty rich, even in a recession, and still planning to hire quite a few people to make sure it invests its fortune wisely in global health, global development, and education. The Seattle-based foundation had 686 employees as of Oct. 1, and hired about 200 people in the past year. The foundation expects to expand its headcount by another 10 percent in the coming year, adding about 70 new jobs. The openings are for people with a range of skills from basic science through administration.
Much of this growth is being fueled by investor Warren Buffett. The Omaha billionaire and friend of Bill Gates is giving the foundation much of his fortune, which was worth $31 billion at the time of the pledge in 2006. The annual installments of stock donations that were actually given were worth $1.6 billion in 2006, $1.76 billion the following year, and $1.8 billion this past July, according to the foundation’s website.
Seattle Genetics
The Bothell, WA-based developer of cancer drugs has been on a roll this year, ever since its SGN-35 drug candidate showed impressive tumor shrinkage rates in a small study of people with Hodgkin’s disease. Seattle Genetics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SGEN]]) has hired about 65 people so far in 2008, mostly in its clinical and manufacturing/development groups, says spokeswoman Peggy Pinkston, in an email. She notes that SGN-35 is being primed for pivotal trials, the kind that can lead to FDA approval if successful, starting in the first half of 2009. It currently has 11 open positions on its website.
Novo Nordisk
The Danish drugmaker, the world’s largest maker of insulin for diabetes, announced it is opening up an immunology research center in Seattle with plans to hire 80 people by 2010. Based on job postings the company listed in August, it said it was looking for director-level people and scientific staff in cellular immunology and molecular immunology assay technology. The Seattle research center plans to identify and test protein drug candidates for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases like multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and inflammatory bowel disease. I’m planning to interview site leader Don Foster soon to learn more about exactly what Novo has in mind.
Cepheid
This Sunnyvale, CA-based maker of molecular diagnostic tools has built up a 30-person chemistry R&D unit in Bothell, WA over the past four years, and it is looking to grow, CEO John Bishop told me last week in an interview.
Cepheid only lists one job opening in Washington state on its website, but Bishop said the company plans to snap up an undisclosed number of highly-skilled people in Washington state to build up manufacturing capacity near its chemistry team. Manufacturing of specialized probes and primers will have to be kept close to this unit in Bothell, because, Bishop says, “It’s high-value work for us, and we want to keep it with technically competent individuals.” The company has seen its revenues grow
