Second in a series. I asked seven of the top biotech leaders in the city to name three colleagues who they thought were the most influential players in the industry here. This week, I'll showcase the names that came up most often among their responses.

Please e-mail me your own selections at joetartakoff@seattlepi.com. I'll showcase those on Friday.

At ZymoGenetics, CEO Bruce Carter is overseeing the launch of the company's first product, Recothrom, a synthetic protein designed to stop bleeding during surgery. It's too early to tell if the product is gaining much ground (some analysts say the launch is taking longer than expected) but Carter has promised that "We will be finished when we dominate this market."

Bruce Carter

Carter's accomplishments at ZymoGenetics are many. He led the negotiations that culminated in the spin off of ZymoGenetics from Novo Nordisk in 2000 and then oversaw the company's initial public offering two years later.

He has also negotiated partnerships with Merck Serono (jointly the two companies are developing Atacicept for the treatment of autoimmune, inflammatory diseases and cancer) and Bayer Schering (to commercialize Recothrom overseas and co-promote it in the United States). And despite recent layoffs, Carter still oversees a staff of 535 biotech employees that is second in number only to Amgen in the region.

Last month, Carter was tapped to lead the search for a new president of the Washington Biotechnology and Biomedical Association.

He is revered by his peers.

Says A. Bruce Montgomery, head of respiratory therapeutics at Gilead Sciences:

Influence requires outside the company action, respect, and likely internal success ... That said, I cast my three votes for Bruce Carter. He is in his own class. A former Olympian ... , scientist, business man, community man, and the guy you want to go have a drink with. His Churchill imitation is priceless. I sign my email to him as Bruce II, as I share a name with a giant, but clearly I am the lessor.

Adds Clay Siegall, CEO of Seattle Genetics:

He is the dean of all the corporate executives in town.

About that reference to the Olympics: Carter rowed with Great Britain's 8-man sweep boat in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City.