创新企业之星

Metabolon公司

公司收入：2，000亿美元

公司总部：北卡三角科技园

所属行业：医疗卫生

成立时间：2000年

员工人数：100人

    对某个癌症患者有效的药物对其他患者可能并不奏效，这一点很奇怪。但是通常情况下，医生无法预测哪些病人可能受益。Metabolon公司希望能够改变这一现状。这是一个新兴的行业，被称为个性化医药行业。专门针对每个病人的身体情况对症下药。它可以检测出血样中和尿液的小分子，从而判断病人对药物或疾病的实时反应。Metabolon公司成立于2000年，拥有一个阵容强大的科学家咨询委员会，包括基金染色体科学家J•克雷格•文特尔和大约300家企业客户——其中，默克公司（Merck）和诺尔公司（Novartis）在临床试验中就采用了Metabolon的实验。该公司面临的难题是：说服医生使用其工具。CEO约翰•瑞尔斯（上）承认：“我们的产品在诊断中的使用率通常无法确定。”去年，Metabolon公司的销售增长了43%，目前尚未赢利，不过，这应该不会影响它的发展速度。

    ——伊莱恩•珀弗尔德

Metabolon

Revenue: $20 million

Headquarters: Research Triangle Park, N.C.

Industry: Health care

Founded: 2000

Employees: 100

    Oddly, a drug that helps one cancer victim may not work on another -- but doctors don't always have the tools to predict which patients will benefit. Metabolon aims to change that. The company works in an emerging field called personalized medicine where treatments are designed to fit an individual's physical makeup. It can test the small molecules in samples of blood and urine to see how an individual responds to a drug or disease in real time. Founded in 2000, Metabolon has a high-powered scientific advisory board, which includes genome scientist J. Craig Venter and about 300 clients -- among them Merck and Novartis, which use its tests in clinical trials. One challenge Metabolon faces is that it could be hard to persuade doctors to use its tools. "In diagnostics, the adoption rates are always uncertain," admits CEO John Ryals (above). That, however, doesn't seem to be slowing this yet-to-be-profitable company, whose sales grew 43% last year.

    --E.P.