Post-Buyout, Genentech's DNA Is Dominant

When Roche Holding executives held an investor-day briefing in New York in March, Morgan Stanley analyst Andrew Baum had a question that had nothing to do with new drugs, licensing deals, or health-care legislation. Did the Genentech team hide the ties of the Roche executives? he asked. Richard H. Scheller, a veteran scientist at Genentech, the Silicon Valley biotechnology powerhouse Roche took over last year for $46.8 billion, quipped that he doesn't own one. Turns out his Roche colleagues on the stage, led by Chief Executive Severin Schwan, didn't want him to look out of place so they ditched theirs.

"I'd never seen them without suits and ties before," Baum said. To him, the informal attire "reflected the willingness of Roche to be seen to bend toward Genentech, rather than the other way around."