Human Genome to get U.S. govt anthrax drug deal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Human Genome Sciences Inc. plans to
announce a deal with the U.S. government on Monday to provide
as many as 100,000 doses of an experimental anthrax drug, the
Washington Post reported.

The Rockville, Maryland-based company will sell the
government a third of an ounce of the drug for $1.8 million, an
amount sufficient for government testers to compare the product
with competitors, the paper said.

On Friday, U.S. officials awarded a similar contract to
Winnipeg, Canada-based Cangene Corp. to supply its anthrax
treatment product for a preliminary trial that could also lead
to a larger order, the biotech firm said.

Cangene said its anthrax product, which is used to treat or
prevent inhalation anthrax, had been picked for preliminary
efficacy testing.

Under both contracts, the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services has an option to buy between 10,000 and 100,000
doses of the products.

Anthrax is an acute and sometimes deadly infectious disease
caused by spore-forming bacterium that can be used as a
biological weapon.

Letters laced with anthrax killed five people in the weeks
that followed the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York and
Washington, and many people were treated with strong
antibiotics in case they had been infected. The cases have
still not been solved.