Tillman Gerngross & Charles Hutchinson
Biotech Goes Boom
When Tillman U. Gerngross, 43, and Charles E. Hutchinson, 70, two Dartmouth College professors, started a little biotech company called Glycofi about six years ago, they set about developing a yeast-based technology that could serve as a platform for vaccines and cancer-fighting drugs. This year their company was purchased by pharmaceutical giant Merck for $400 million — the largest cash acquisition by a private company in the history of biotech. Neither is retiring, though. Hutchinson remains a teacher at the Thayer School of Engineering; Gerngross is planning to start some new companies. “The joke is that the way to make a small fortune in biotech is to start with a large fortune,” says Gerngross. “I’m interested in reversing that.”
New Hampshire Magazine knows where “It” is at. Each November, we identify the state’s most happening people and publish their names and profiles in our annual “It List.”
So what defines an “It” Person?
How about buzz, panache, je ne sais quoi, currency, a person whose time has come, a person of tomorrow, a timeless person, noteworthy, below the radar, in the news, in the know, hot, cool, high impact, slippery, a mover and shaker, a humble saint, a behind-the-scenes operator, a scenery chewer, an unsung hero, a hero who knows how to sing.
It’s a quality that’s hard to define, but you know it when you see it.
Above is one member of the 2006 It List.
