By forging new relationships and finding novel uses for existing technologies, this year’s top companies are employing creative ways to advance their science. BY HANNAH WATERS ike the reeds of an old Aesop fable, the companies that deals potentially worth more than $800 million with pharmaceu- topped our 2011 Best Places to Work in Industry survey tical giants GlaxoSmithKline and Eisai to develop epigenetics- L are bending—but not breaking—under the strain of con- targeted therapies for cancer and other diseases. “It’s a good sign tinued economic adversity. With funding agencies still awarding for our company’s stability in the near term,” says Epizyme re- grants only to the cream of the crop and 2009 stimulus funds search associate Christina Allain. expected to run dry as soon as next year, companies are working Other top companies are collaborating with a different type hard to find new funding sources that will allow them to survive of partner altogether—academia. Conversant Bio, a Huntsville, despite the still-depressed economy. Alabama–based biotech that offers patient-sample and cell-based Taking advantage of the growing personal-genomics boom, for assays, formed relationships with labs at Stanford University to example, DNA Genotek, the survey’s #8 company, expanded the share samples, equipment, and information. And in Fargo, North market for its saliva-based DNA collection kit from population ge- Dakota, 3rd-ranked Aldevron is participating in a state-funded neticists in the field to consumers in their homes by licensing its project to build a science city, involving collaborations between wares to genetic-testing companies. The recent uptick in the use North Dakota State University labs and local research companies. of personalized genetic tests has boosted DNA Genotek’s income, “There’s a really neat synergy that’s forming here,” says Aldevron’s OM C which the company puts right back into basic research. “Personal director of business development Michael Jablon. O. T genomics just became yet another market that we’re playing into,” Read on to learn more about the strengths and weaknesses KPHO says DNA Genotek product development manager Rafal Iwasiow. of this year’s top-ranking companies, how multinational compa- C O T New collaborations were also common among this year’s top nies are using their diversity to their advantage, and the different S I companies. Epizyme, the survey’s #1 company, which specializes ways companies are creatively utilizing state and federal funding 4X6 / in developing inhibitors for epigenetic enzymes, recently signed to help their researchers succeed. CREDIT LINE 05.2011 | THE SCIENTIst | the-scientist.com 43 BEST PLACES TO WORK TOP 40 COMPANIES #1-20 RANK RANK NO. OF 2011 2010 COMPANY SIZE EMPLOYEES StrENGTHS WEAKNESSES Integrity Remuneration and Benefits Epizyme, Cambridge, MA Small < 50 1 - Communications Training and Development Job Satisfaction Remuneration and Benefits Conversant Bio, Huntsville, AL Small < 50 2 - Management Training and Development Communications Training and Development Aldevron, Fargo, ND Small 50 - 100 3 - Remuneration and Benefits Research Environment Training and Development Communications Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Cambridge, MA Small 1,000+ 4 - Remuneration and Benefits Integrity Policies and Practices Research Environment Acorda Therapeutics, Hawthorne, NY Small 100 - 500 5 - Training and Development Communications Research Environment Training and Development Vitae Pharmaceuticals, Fort Washington, PA Small 50 6 - Management Remuneration and Benefits Remuneration and Benefits Job Satisfaction - Celldex Therapeutics, Needham, MA Small 100 7 Training and Development Integrity Job Satisfaction Remuneration and Benefits DNA Genotek, Kanata, Ontario Small 50 - 100 8 - Integrity Training and Development Job Satisfaction Training and Development Wyatt Technology, Santa Barbara, CA Small 100 - 500 9 2 Management Research Environment Training and Development Research Environment DuPont, Wilmington, DE Large 6,000 10 - Job Satisfaction Management Remuneration and Benefits Job Satisfaction Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Cambridge, MA Small 1,500+ 11 - Policies and Practices Communications Training and Development Research Environment Pioneer Hi-Bred: A DuPont Business, Johnston, IA Large 10,000+ 12 8 Integrity Remuneration and Benefits Training and Development Research Environment Dow AgroSciences, Indianapolis, IN Large 5,000+ 13 7 Remuneration and Benefits Communications Research Environment Remuneration and Benefits Integrated DNA Technologies, Coralville, IA Small 500 - 1,000 14 9 Communications Training and Development Remuneration and Benefits Management Monsanto, St. Louis, MO Large 20,000 15 5 Training and Development Research Environment Remuneration and Benefits Job Satisfaction Amgen, Thousand Oaks, CA Large 17,000 16 16 Integrity Training and Development Training and Development Integrity Alnyalm Pharmaceuticals, Cambridge, MA Small * 17 12 Communications Management Remuneration and Benefits Communications Novartis, Basel, Switzerland Large 115,000+ 18 17 Training and Development Policies and Practices Job Satisfaction Research Environment Promega Corporation, Madison, WI Small 1,000+ 19 - Training and Development Remuneration and Benefits Job Satisfaction Remuneration and Benefits Cancer Genetics Inc., Rutherford, NJ Small 50 20 - Communications Research Environment Epigenetic Endeavors at Epizyme Epizyme, the #1 company on this year’s overall Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the company re- list, has grown exponentially since its founding in searches the epigenetics of cancer and develops drugs to mod- 2007—from just two employees to its current R&D ify variations in DNA methylation. The company recently iden- staff of 26. In the last year, the company identified tified how normal and mutant histone methyltransferase EZH2 two novel mechanisms linked to cancer, inked partnerships with work together to regulate growth in B-cell lymphomas, and de- two major pharmaceutical companies, and signed a lease on a larger veloped a small-molecule inhibitor for another methyltransfer- office. The growth is “a tremendous validation of us as a company ase, DOT1L, which is able to selectively kill mixed-lineage leu- and how we’re executing things,” says medicinal chemist Ed Olhava. kemia cells in vitro. 44 FACULTY OF 1000 | f1000.com #21-40 RANK RANK NO. OF 2011 2010 COMPANY SIZE EMPLOYEES StrENGTHS WEAKNESSES Communications Integrity ArQule, Woburn, MA Small 100 - 500 21 - Policies and Practices Management Job Satisfaction Training and Development - Tengion, East Norriton, PA Small 50 - 100 22 Communications Remuneration and Benefits Management Remuneration and Benefits Targacept, Winston-Salem, NC Small 100 - 500 23 22 Job Satisfaction Training and Development Remuneration and Benefits Integrity Otsuka Maryland Medicinal Laboratories, Rockville, MD Small 100 - 500 24 4 Research Environment Communications Research Environment Remuneration and Benefits Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, The Woodlands, TX Small 100 - 500 25 21 Management Training and Development Integrity Training and Development Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara, CA Large 15,000+ 26 - Research Environment Policies and Practices Training and Development Research Environment Bayer Corp, Leverkusen, Germany Large 110,000+ 27 - Remuneration and Benefits Communications Remuneration and Benefits Training and Development Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, IL Large 90,000 28 10 Management Policies and Practices Training and Development Communications Pfizer, New York, NY Large 110,000 29 18 Remuneration and Benefits Integrity Policies and Practices Research Environment Genzyme, Cambridge, MA Large 10,000 30 - Remuneration and Benefits Management Remuneration and Benefits Job Satisfaction GlaxoSmithKline, Middlesex, UK Large 99,000 31 29 Integrity Management Communications Integrity Emergent Biosolutions, Rockville, MD Small 100 - 500 32 - Training and Development Research Environment Job Satisfaction Research Environment Syngenta Biotechnology, Basel, Switzerland Large 25,000 33 - Training and Development Management Job Satisfaction Communications Boehringer Ingelheim, Ingelheim am Rhein, Germany Large 40,000+ 34 - Management Remuneration and Benefits Training and Development Remuneration and Benefits Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Tarrytown, NY Small 1,500 35 23 Research Environment Job Satisfaction Remuneration and Benefits Training and Development AstraZeneca, London, UK Large 63,000 36 20 Management Research Environment Policies and Practices Training and Development Asterand, Detroit, MI Small 100 37 32 Job Satisfaction Management Remuneration and Benefits Job Satisfaction Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany Large 40,000+ 38 24 Training and Development Research Environment Remuneration and Benefits Communications Merck & Co., Whitehouse Station, NJ Large 94,000 39 25 Policies and Practices Training and Development Research Environment Training and Development Bristol-Myers Squibb, New York, NY Large 27,000 40 - Job Satisfaction Management Small companies have < 4,000 employees * Declined to provide information Epizyme’s research has attracted the attention of pharmaceu- come. “It’s a great morale boost,” says Christina Allain, who de- tical giant GlaxoSmithKline, which announced its partnership velops cell-based assays for the company—“a pat on the back.” with Epizyme in January, providing the company with up to $650 Despite its growth, the company has stayed in the same, small million to search for new epigenetic drugs.