Genentech Celebrates 20 years in Hillsboro, 50 in Business

Every day at Genentech's campus in Hillsboro, more than 1,000 workers manufacture and distribute medicines and pioneer cutting-edge cell and gene therapies. Another 200 workers help patients access Genentech's medicines.

Genentech is the original biotechnology company, building an industry that develops life-changing medicines to treat cancer and other serious diseases. With more than 40 medicines on the market, Genentech and Roche's treatments reached 39 million people around the globe last year. The company has another 66 investigational medicines in clinical development and spends about $15 billion annually on research and development.

This year, Genentech is celebrating its 50th anniversary, including 20 years since the company broke ground on its Hillsboro manufacturing site. Company leaders recently highlighted some of the elements that have helped make its Hillsboro campus a thriving, productive location. Those include a strong local workforce, partners in education, sound public policy, and a community that makes investments possible.

As a leader in the life-science sector worldwide and in Oregon, Genentech is poised to grow and is leading Oregon's push to attract talent and industry to the state.

The company's patient-first philosophy has helped more than 4 million people access patient care resources over the last 30 years. Over the past 40 years, the Genentech Patient Foundation has helped more than 900,000 patients.

Genentech's headquarters are near San Francisco, the city where the founders biochemist Herb Boyer and venture capitalist Bob Swanson met in 1976 and hit it off over a shared enthusiasm for the potential of recombinant DNA. The company has more than 12,000 employees across the country.

Congratulations to Genentech on 20 years in Hillsboro and 50 years in business. Thank you for being part of the Hillsboro community.

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