Genetic Engineering News Reports Biofirms Devising Anti-Biowarfare Agents.

Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers

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LARCHMONT, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 11, 2003

Biotechnology companies are responding to the threats of terrorism and war by applying existing and developing technologies for biodefense purposes, reports Genetic Engineering News (GEN).

Venture capital also is being attracted to this realm, with the recognition that most pertinent technologies can be applied to peacetime bioresearch as well, according to an article in the March issue of GEN (www.genengnews.com).

"President Bush in his State-of-the-Union address called for a new initiative, Project BioShield, to support biodefense," says John Sterling, editor-in-chief of GEN. "Biotech companies were, in fact, already working on diagnostics and therapeutics aimed at biodefense long before President Bush's speech."

Many biofirms targeting biodefense are using preexisting core technologies. Abgenix (Nasdaq:ABGX) is taking advantage of its XenoMouse monoclonal antibody capability to develop human monoclonals as protectants for a range of pathogens. Isis Pharmaceuticals' (Nasdaq:ISIS) Ibis Therapeutics division is using a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) grant to develop RNA-based antibiotics for bioterror germs. Vical (Nasdaq:VICL) is now collaborating on two vaccines for biodefense.

Anacor Pharmaceuticals (Palo Alto, CA) is following a different business model. Formed in the spring of 2002, the company is producing a novel class of antimicrobials strictly for biodefense and multidrug-resistant pathogens. Other biotech companies, such Dor BioPharma (AMEX:DOR) and Siga (Nasdaq:SIGA), have recently formed biodefense divisions to pursue a number of targets.

"Smallpox is viewed as a very high-risk potential biowarfare agent, and there is a great deal of research going on for alternatives to the first-generation, live-virus version," notes Sterling.

Acambis (Nasdaq:ACAM) is using its ChimeriVax platform, a live, attenuated 17D yellow fever vector, for two smallpox vaccines, ACAM-1000 and -2000. The firm is currently testing both against the available Dryvax vaccine in late-stage trials. VaxGen (Nasdaq:VXGN) and Kaketsuken (Kumamoto, Japan) are collaborating to develop an attenuated smallpox vaccine, LC16. Therion Biologics (Cambridge, MA) is relying on its vaccinia pox virus platform to develop a smallpox vaccine. It is using an attenuated strain of vaccinia similar to that used in the first-generation smallpox vaccine (and as a vector for its cancer immunotherapy vaccines), because the virus is relatively large in size, enabling multiple genes to be inserted.

Other companies covered in the GEN article on biodefense include DynPort Vaccine Co. (Reston, VA), Crucell (Nasdaq:CRXL), Hematech (Westport, CT), IBM (NYSE:IBM), Accelrys (San Diego), United Devices (Austin, TX), Evotec OAI (Deutsche Borse:EVT), Antex Biologics (AMEX:ANX), Cubist Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:CBST), Syrxx (San Diego), Axonyx (Nasdaq:AXYX), Hadron Advanced Biosystems (Alexandria, VA), Coley Pharmaceutical Group (Wellesley, MA), HollisEden Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:HEPH), Hemispherx Biopharma (AMEX:HEB), MicroTest Laboratories (Agawam, MA), and Avant Immunotherapeutics (Nasdaq:AVAN).

Genetic Engineering News is published 21 times a year by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. For a copy of the magazine, please call 914-834-3100, ext. 623, or email: [e-mail]