Henri Termeer

Henri A. Termeer (February 28, 1946 – May 12, 2017) was a Dutch biotechnology executive and entrepreneur who is considered a pioneer in corporate strategy in the biotechnology industry for his tenure as CEO at Genzyme.

Termeer created a business model adopted by many others in the biotech industry by garnering steep prices— mainly from insurers and government payers— for therapies for rare genetic disorders known as orphan diseases that mainly affect children.

Genzyme uses biological processes to manufacture drugs that are not easily copied by generic-drug makers.

The drugs are also protected by orphan drug acts in various countries which provides extensive protection from competition and ensures coverage by publicly funded insurers.

From 1969 to 1971 Termeer was a manager in management services in Norwich, United Kingdom, at the Norvic Company, a show company.

Termeer "studied economics at the Economische Hogeschool, Erasmus University, The Netherlands. In 1973 he completed his MBA at Darden School at the University of Virginia. He received an honorary Doctor of Science from the University of Massachusetts.

He began his career in the medical and healthcare product industry in 1973 when he started working as manager of international product planning for Deerfield, Illinois-based Travenol Laboratories Inc now Baxter.

From 1975 to 1976 he was Baxter's international marketing manager.

From 1976 to 1979 he was general manager for Travenol GMBH in Munich.

From 1979 to 1981 he was executive vice president of the Hyland Therapeutics division of Baxter Travenol in Glendale, California.

In the United States, plasma donors were paid for their time as the time commitment for regular donors is over 200 hours per year.

Standards for donating plasma are set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Almost all plasmapheresis in the US is performed by automated methods such as the Plasma Collection System (PCS2) made by Haemonetics or the Autopheresis-C (Auto-C) made by Fenwal, Inc., a former division of Baxter International.

Termeer explained, "This was the beginning of biotechnology. You took plasma and pulled it apart, fractionated it. Hyland sold Factor VIII, Factor IX, immunoglobulins, and albumin. The plasma was collected through plasmapheresis performed at collection centers all around the country. They paid people for plasma. They returned the red cells and paid for the plasma ... There were ethical concerns about the payments. Very vulnerable people were being paid."

At that time Baxter was developing tests for Chagas disease which was very prevalent in Latin America, based on feedback indicating that it would be a big market.

Termeer was sent to South America to "figure out a way to set up the connections" which was how Baxter operated.

After meeting with the military and with the Center for Disease Control he called off the project as unprofitable.

Back in Chicago he was Baxter's International Marketing Manager for several years with the "Artificial Organs Division—artificial kidneys, dialysis equipment, heart/lung machines, stuff like that. This was a period of pioneering work in dialysis and in the development of heart and lung machines for open heart surgeries.

Monica Higgins profiled Termeer as one of the alumni of the Baxter biopharmaceutical industryfirm, the 'Baxter boys'—who produced many of the leaders of the burgeoning biopharmaceutical industry.

As CEO of Genzyme from 1981 to 2011, he developed corporate strategies for growth including optimizing institutional embeddedness nurturing vast networks of influential groups and clusters: doctors, private equity, patient-groups, insurance, healthcare umbrella organizations, state and local government, and alumni.

Termeer was "connected to 311 board members in 17 different organizations across 20 different industries" He has the legacy of being the "longest-serving CEO in the biotechnology industry.

He was an "advocate for the Massachusetts biotech industry."

"To generate revenues to fund the research, Termeer entered into a number of side ventures including a chemical supplies business, a genetic counseling."

Termeer was named as one of the top fifty leaders of thought in orphan drugs and rare diseases in a list published by Terrapin for the World Orphan Drug Congress which included "eminent personalities that have advanced rare disease research."

The congress described him as an "inspiration and pioneer", many of whose protégés have gone on to lead other successful companies in the rare disease and biotech sector.

In 1983 Termeer became chairman, CEO and president of Genzyme, a then two-year old start-up biotechnology company, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

At that time,

"Genzyme was just these professors from MIT and myself and some venture capitalists.'"

In 1985 he was appointed as their CEO.

By 1988 he was chairman of Genzyme.

During those years he held positions at Genzyme in Genzyme Tissue Repair, Strategic Planning & Capital Allocation Committee and Member of Risk Oversight Committee, Genzyme Oncology.

When Genzyme needed a manufacturing facility, Termeer deliberately chose to remain in Massachusetts and use local contractors instead of using the pharmaceuticals cluster in the New Jersey and Philadelphia areas and their more specialized engineering firms.

"Massachusetts is home to a vibrant biotechnology cluster, which draws on the region's strong universities, medical centers, and venture capital firms."

Harvard Business School professor, Michael E. Porter, a leading authority on competitive strategy and the competitiveness taught courses to newly appointed CEOs of very large corporations.

Porter described Termeer's strategy as a cluster, the new economics of competition with all members benefiting from "a strong base of supporting functions and institutions."

By 2004 Henri Termeer's leadership at Genzyme was considered "by many industry observers as exemplary and the firm, Genzyme, has often been seen as a role model for other firms in the industry."

Higgins noted in 2004 that at that time, [t]he size and extent of Baxter's influence overall [was] difficult to ascertain since the biotechnology industry, with eight- to ten-year product development cycles, [was] still in its relative infancy."

In December 2011, the non-partisan organization Public Campaign criticized Baxter for spending $10.45 million on lobbying and not paying any taxes during 2008–2010, instead getting $66 million in tax rebates, despite making a profit of $926 million.

According to the Boston Globe staff writer Robert Weisman,

"In the formative years of biotechnology, Genzyme was the industry's Apple, blazing a pathway for creating protein-based treatments for rare diseases.'"