1. Worldwide during the 1980s, there was a wave of biotech companies going public and money was poured into research-focused businesses. Although France was famous for having world-class research and scientists, the so-called “biomania” around the globe had yet to hit France. French economy was at this time characterized of slow growth, low industrial investment and high unemployment rates. Thus, the environment for starting any new business was challenging. For biotech companies especially, which are usually in need for a large amount of cash in the early stages and having a long horizon until reaching profitability, it was hard to raise money. Although the French government had taken steps to stimulate the market by offering for example tax cuts on investments in research focused companies and offering government monetary support, it seemed that this was not enough to attract venture capitalists and other investors. The climate in France was very risk averse and the entrepreneurial spirit was low. Furthermore, there was a lack of competent management available. French scientists were looking for prestige and academic acknowledgement rather than bringing their research to the market and finding people that had the skill and will to do this for them was difficult.
2. One of Gensets competitive advantages in the biotech industry was the combination of a top French scientist, Marc Vasseur, and an experienced venture capitalist, Pascal Brandys. As noted, there was a lack of competent management in France, which made it rather unique for a biotech start-up to have access to this management knowledge and experience. Brandys had worked as a venture capitalist focused on biotech firms during 30 years, meaning he had good knowledge of the industry, the process of raising capital in the current financial environment and a large network. This knowledge led to several