We know who made the cut in the latest MIT Technology Review list of the 50 Smartest Companies of 2015.
But there were a few conspicuous omissions – take Theranos, for instance, or Alexion Pharmaceuticals – from the otherwise meaty list of healthcare and life sciences companies that dominated the list.
Thirteen healthcare and life sciences companies were ranked on MIT’s list this year: Illumina (3), Counsyl (5), Juno Therapeutics (8), OvaScience (11), AliveCor (14), Gilead Science (15), Bristol-Myers Squibb (26), Teladoc (27), Alnylam (30) Bluebird Bio (34), Enlitic (39), Intrexon (44) and DNAnexus (45). MIT explains the methodology for choosing these companies:
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…we did not have trouble finding big ideas. To make the list, a company must have truly innovative technology and a business model that is both practical and ambitious, with the result that it has set the agenda in its field over the past 12 months.
Since “big ideas” isn’t the only criteria, several companies have been left off the list. But here are some of the more noticeable exclusions:
1. Theranos
For all the publicity Theranos has accumulated this year, it’s been conspicuously absent from the MIT Tech Review list – and no wonder. CEO Elizabeth Holmes has managed to alienate academia by keeping the scientific validation of the diagnostics company’s platform tightly under wraps.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
But with that $9 billion valuation and a partnership with Walgreens to pursue routine consumer blood testing, the startup is being somewhat smart about business. And it’s smart, perhaps, to keep that IP under wraps – because questions have arisen over whether it’s all that original to begin with.
When it launched in 2012, Alexion’s $440,000 drug, Soliris, encapsulated the profitability of ultra-high-priced therapies for ultra-rare disease. But the company’s moving forward fast in areas like hemotology, nephrology, transplant rejection and neurology.
On Wall Street, Alexion continues to outperform – most recently thanks to its $8.4 billion acquisition of Synageva Biopharma Corp. A launch of Synageva’s drug, Kanuma, that treats lysosomal acid lipase deficiency is projected this September.
3. NantWorld
Well, NantWorks. NantWorld isn’t part of the ever-expanding Patrick Soon-Shiong biotechnology universe – yet.
Much like Theranos, the NantWorks companies have been ultra-hush about their business model and underlying technology – but they’ve made some interesting moves and are backed by enormous capital. The company’s Willy Wonka interior is churning with activity surrounding precision medicine, immunotherapies, and building out “the Google of genome mapping.”
A source once likened Soon-Shiong to Steve Jobs in terms of vision and puppet mastery. It’ll be interesting to see whether something “smart” from NantWorld emerges.
4. Caribou Biosciences, CRISPR Therapeutics, Editas Medicine
Okay, honestly, it’s a stretch to think CRISPR would make it on this list in the first place – the technology fits more under the “big ideas” umbrella than “smart companies.” And there’s that whole sticky issue of ethics – and questions over whether the technology’s scalable.
So, a prudent omission on MIT’s part.
However, CRISPR technology has taken the life sciences community by storm this past year – it’s inexpensive, relatively easy, and could potentially offer wide-arching health benefits with gene editing.
BioMarin keeps wowing – for instance, it just announced that its candidate BMN-111 improved growth in children with dwarfism, helping normalize their growth rate.
The company has five approved drugs and several others under investigation; like Alexion and the also-neglected Vertex Pharmaceuticals, BioMarin is one of the most successful developers of rare disease therapy. It’s a stock market darling, has continually produced exceptional science, yet remains a non-player on the MIT lists.
