The prototypical biotech company is easy to envision: think Moderna, Alnylam, and Genentech.
But what about Pfizer, which claims “biotechnology is [the company’s] foundation?” What about Twist Bioscience, which doesn’t develop therapeutics but was dubbed one of the “most innovative biotechnology companies of 2021”? And what about diagnostics companies, like Exact Sciences, a key element of its local biotech ecosystem?
Historically, experts distinguished between biotech and pharmaceutical companies based on how a therapeutic was made. But the line that once separated these categories has become fuzzier over time, and the biotech umbrella has expanded to cover far more than therapeutics.
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