Serono's Global Ambitions

Serono, Europe's biggest biotechnology company, is nearly one hundred years old. Recently, the company has been on a quest to establish a public image quite different from that of a traditional, family-owned pharmaceutical group. Driving Serono into the public eye is Ernesto Bertarelli, who took the helm from his father in 1996. The structural changes he brought about provided the framework for modernization. But Serono still has to make its mark in the US, where the most important determinant of success will be the timing of its launch of Rebif, its multiple sclerosis drug.