| Chiron | 4560 Horton Street, Emeryville, CA 94608-2916 |
| www.chiron.com | (510) 655-8730 Fax: (510) 655-9910 |
 |
|
What's in a name?
Chiron's moniker has its origins in Greek mythology - Chiron was a centaur (half man and half horse) with magical healing powers. The modern-day Chiron was founded in 1981 by three university professors, and gained fame when it discovered the hepatitis C vaccine and developed a blood screening technique for the disease. The company divides its operations into three sectors: the blood-testing operations of its recently-sold Diagnostics business; Vaccines, intended to sell infection-fighting products all over the globe; and Therapeutics, which focuses on combating infectious diseases.
History lesson
Maker of the world's first genetically-engineered vaccines (for hepatitis B and pertussis), Chiron is a leading biotechnology firm with a distinguished, though often troubled history. Having established a lucrative network of corporate partnerships to sell its wares, Chiron went public two years after its founding. The following year it mapped out the entire HIV genome, advancing the cause of AIDS research and treatment. It became profitable in 1990, and expanded by acquiring Cetus Corporation in 1991. Cetus produced two drugs vital to Chiron's success: Proleukin, an immune system treatment, and IL-2, an oncology drug. The Swiss pharmaceutical firm Novartis (a new company formed by the merger of Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz) bought nearly half of Chiron's stock in 1995. The two companies operate independently but trade technologies and products. As part of the deal, Novartis agreed to pay Chiron $1.2 billion over five years for research, equity purchases, and debt guarantees.
Through a series of deals, Chiron is today the second-largest biotechnology firm in the world. With a research network linking it to over 300 universities and research institutions, Chiron now has more drugs in clinical trials than any other biomedical company. Chiron is looking to cut back some research projects, though, as it looks to increase profitability in the year 2000.
Streamlining efforts
To further boost revenues and profits, Chiron, traditionally heavily weighted toward U.S. sales, has branched out into new markets such as South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Australia, and India with powerful flu and hepatitis vaccines. It has also taken steps to streamline its business, selling its vision unit to Bausch & Lomb, its quality control division to BioRad Laboratories, and its electrophoresis arm to Helena Labs. The company has also undertaken an effort to cut costs by $150 million, closing unnecessary plants and striking an information services outsourcing deal with IBM. But perhaps the most notable change was the sale of its in vitro diagnostics operations to Bayer Corp. The deal, announced in November 1998, was worth $1.1 billion. It was a major coup for Chiron, which analysts reported got a high price for a low-margin business that it had been trying to get rid of for three years.
Looking ahead
In the midst of the streamlining process, Chiron is also formulating future plans. After an exhaustive search, in March 1998 the company got new blood in the executive ranks, hiring James Sulat as chief financial officer and former Glaxo Wellcome chief opererating officer Sean Lance as CEO. Lance is contemplating a number of strategies intended to boost Chiron's recently flagging stock price. Possibilities include increased R&D expenditures to create a "blockbuster" drug, a share buyback, and further acquisitions.
Chiron has been working feverishly at developing HIV and AIDS treatments, including testing the ability of one of its cancer-fighting drugs to boost the immune systems of AIDS patients. It was also awarded a five-year contract by the National Institute of Health to start human clinical trials of its HIV vaccine. Chiron has also partnered itself with the government of Singapore in a $22 million cancer research venture, but the overseas ventures do not stop there. The company has announced it will sell its meningitis C vaccine in the United Kingdom and in 1999 Chiron received approval to sell its flu vaccine in most western European companies.
|
|
Chiron lists its job openings on its hiring Web page, www.chiron.com/corpInfo/index.html. Applicants should send a cover letter and resume to the corporate headquarters. Because Chiron scans resumes into a database, use standard text and fonts. Indicate the specific job title and code from the job listing on the application. If applying for more than one position, send one resume for each position.
Recruiting at Chiron "varies for each department." Some departments "hire temp-to-permanent employees through Interim or Lab Support [agencies]." Some is done through "advertising in the paper and referrals," as well as some campus visits.
Similarly, "the interview process is relatively unique for each department." It usually consists of more than one round, especially for higher-level positions. Advises one insider: "Although the working environment is pretty relaxed, be prepared to have a professional demeanor when you go to an interview. It also helps to be knowledgeable about the underlying principles that a particular job requires." The degree of difficulty appears to be fairly standard for the industry. "There may be technical questions, but usually not for someone coming out of college," says a source. "It is understood that college graduates need to get job experience before technical questions are asked."
One interviewer offers this tip: "The usual 'just be yourself' rule applies, but...you could be wound up slightly more tightly so as to appear to think on your feet." Also be sure that "being yourself" will be agreeable to the person with whom you are meeting. Says another contact, "We will choose someone with good business skills, excellent customer skills, and an ability to learn new stuff over a super technical person with a 'potato personality.'" Candidates with other similar vegetable-influenced temperaments are also discouraged from applying. After the interview session is concluded, "don't be surprised if Chiron takes its time calling you. The people are very busy and there is somewhat of a tendency to forget the great job applicant amidst all the stress of getting other tasks completed. It could be quite a few months."
|
|
Ch-ch-ch-changes
Both in its business dealings and in its corporate culture, Chiron "is a company that has undergone many changes in recent years, and is still evolving." For example, "as we have become a bigger company over the years, some fun has left. [There are] no more Friday beer and pizza fests, no more corporate Christmas party, and so forth."
Open season
In general though, the atmosphere is still fairly open. Reports one source: "Our existing organization is very flat and informal. I can tell our plant manager he's wrong about an idea and not get fired [and] I get to work on lots of fun projects with many talented people." The company is also known to take care of its own. "You can be assured that if the people of Chiron take you on, you are more than qualified for the post they want you for. You will understand this based on frequency of promotions, increases in salary, and letters from the office commending you on your work...You will find out quickly who the 'key employees' are, what endears them to the company, and why they are endeared to the company." Simply put, "if you do good work you will be noticed and properly rewarded."
Flexible hours
As is the case with many aspects of life at Chiron, "hours really depend on what you are doing. Research hours are flexible and depend on your individual project." In the same way, "stress levels are directly linked to what boss and what department you end up in." The basic informality carries over in this respect: "There is no time clock, and generally you can set your own work schedule. No one cares as long as you get your work done."
|
|
Human Resources
4560 Horton Street1
Emeryville
CA
94608-2916
|
|
Diagnostics;Therapeutics;Vaccines
|
|
Amgen;Genentech;Genzyme
More Company Profiles
For more career information, go to Vault.com
©2000, Vault.com Inc
Click here to email this page to a friend  |
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
||||||