War means activity for biodefense companies
by Neil Adler * Staff Writer
Mar. 28, 2003
The war in Iraq and the threat of terrorism have meant increased
business for several area biotechnology companies developing drugs
and other products to protect against hazardous biological agents.
BioReliance Corp., DynPort Vaccine Co. LLC, Human Genome Sciences
Inc., Igen International Inc. and 20/20 GeneSystems Inc. are among
the region's companies working in the biodefense market.
Robert Eaton, executive director of MdBio Inc., a Frederick
organization that promotes bioscience development, said companies
are putting more resources into biodefense as the federal government
focuses spending on defense and security programs.
"I don't see companies necessarily being created just for biodefense,
but companies are looking to biodefense applications for products they
were already developing," he said.
Igen International of Gaithersburg announced last week that the U.S.
Air Force has purchased the company's testing systems for the
detection of biological agents to better protect military personnel.
The tests, based on Igen's Origen biological detection technology, can
detect select biological agents within 30 minutes in environmental
samples. Igen would not say how many tests the Air Force has ordered
or how much they cost. Igen's biodefense activities are expected to
generate between $4 million and $5 million in revenue for the company
this fiscal year, which ends March 31, according to George Migausky,
the company's CFO.
That amount is likely to rise "significantly" next year, he said, adding
that double-digit revenue growth is not a stretch. "We see a real
opportunity," Migausky said.
Igen also has partnerships for biodefense work with the Food and Drug
Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the
Department of Agriculture.
The FDA has acquired Origen-based products from Igen to expand its
homeland security program for food safety, the goal of which is to
develop tests to detect anthrax, botulinum toxin and other biological
agents in food.
Samuel J. Wohlstadter, Igen's chairman and CEO, said the company
continues to focus on developing a "broader test menu of products for
... defense and homeland security initiatives."
DynPort Vaccine Co. of Frederick, named Firm of the Year by the
Frederick Network of the Tech Council of Maryland last week, has a
contract with the Department of Defense that runs through 2012 to
produce smallpox vaccine stockpiles for the federal government.
Rockville-based BioReliance, a contract service organization to the
biotech and pharmaceutical industries, is a subcontractor on the
project.
The federal government's likely boost in spending for defense and
security programs could result in increased business for government
contractors such as DynPort, said president Terry R. Irgens.
DynPort is working on an anthrax vaccine and several other products
for biodefense purposes, he said, which could lead to future contracts
or grants.
BioReliance, meanwhile, expects to see increased demand for its
biodefense work, which represented 6 percent of the company's
revenue in 2002, said BioReliance CFO John Coker.
"This area shows a lot of promise," he said.
Rockville biotech startup 20/20 recently launched a product that helps
screen for suspicious powders. The BioCheck Powder Screening Kit,
which sells for less than $25, works quickly to identify the absence or
presence of protein, a biomolecule found in all living materials.
The test provides a fast screen for the possible presence of multiple
bioterrorism agents such as anthrax and ricin toxin, while ruling out
most of the ordinary substances that citizens have frequently feared
to be possible terrorist weapons.
Human Genome Sciences, a Rockville developer of gene-based drugs,
recently announced that it has developed a human monoclonal
antibody drug that protects against anthrax in multiple experimental
models in animals.
The company plans to develop the drug, called Abthrax, to prevent
and treat anthrax infections. The antibody approach could have
advantages over vaccines or antibiotics that would make it an
attractive option for defense against bioterrorism, HGS officials say.
A single dose of Abthrax could be taken as needed, either just before
exposure, days in advance, or right after the event. Most vaccines, on
the other hand, must be administered weeks in advance.
HGS plans to file an Investigational New Drug Application with the FDA
in the near future to get clearance to evaluate the safety and
tolerability of Abthrax in healthy adults.
"We hope ... that Human Genome Sciences will be able to make an
important contribution to our nation's biodefense initiative," said
William A. Haseltine, the company's chairman and CEO, in a statement.
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