Robert A. Swanson cofounded Genentech (short for “genetic engineering technology”) with Herbert Boyer in 1976, serving as CEO and chairman of the board from 1976 to 1996. Born in Brooklyn, Swanson graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with both a B.S. in chemistry and an M.S. from the Sloan School of Management.
As a Silicon Valley venture capitalist with the Bay Area firm of Kleiner and Perkins, Swanson recognized the importance of the commercialization of genetic engineering in the early 1970s. In 1975 Swanson approached Herbert Boyer with a vision for a new biotechnology industry. Following Genentech???s incorporation, Swanson and Boyer set their sights on the synthesis of human insulin, a goal Genentech scientists achieved in 1978. After licensing the human insulin technology to Eli Lilly, Genentech became the first biotechnology company to launch its own biopharmaceutical product. Genentech got its first major boost in 1985 with the approval of Protropin human growth hormone.
Swanson’s foresight and vision helped create modern biotechnology. He was a pioneer of a new industry and a force behind a new era of modern medicine based on recombinant DNA technology. Swanson’s legacy stands not only in the success of Genentech but also in the success of other companies founded by people who gained their first biotech experience with him and in the start-ups he personally nurtured. Many early employees of Genentech went on to back other leading companies in the industry, including William Rastetter, president and CEO of Tularik; Gary Lyons, president and CEO of Neurocrine Bioscience; and Michael Shepherd, founder and CSO of NewBiotics.
After retiring from Genentech in 1996, Swanson founded K&E Management Ltd., an investment management firm in San Mateo, California. He was chairman of both Tularik and AGY Therapeutics. Swanson remained an active participant in the biotechnology industry until his untimely death on 6 December 1999. Swanson, along with Herbert Boyer, was honored with the 2000 Biotechnology Heritage Award.
