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Bird Flu Fight Infects Future of Fontana Firm

Posted on: Tuesday, 18 April 2006, 00:00 CDT

By Darla Martin Tucker, The Business Press, San Bernardino, Calif.

Apr. 17--A Fontana biosciences startup announced April 11 it expects to produce a bird flu vaccine for humans.

GEN ID Lab Services Inc. in Fontana has contracted with S2 Biosciences Inc. in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, to test bird and human samples for the presence of the H5N1 virus known as avian or bird flu.

Since 2003, the virus has killed at least 109 people, mostly in Asia, the World Health Organization in Switzerland reported April 12.

Health leaders worry the avian influenza, which has killed millions of domestic birds in Asian countries, may mutate into a pandemic among human populations.

Unlike seasonal influenza, which produces only mild respiratory symptoms in most people, the disease caused by H5N1 follows an unusually aggressive clinical course, with rapid deterioration and high fatality, according to the World Health Organization. Primary viral pneumonia and multi-organ failure are common.

More than half of those infected with the virus have died. Most cases have occurred in previously healthy children and young adults.

GEN ID got its start through a reverse merger. Pacific Sunset Investments Inc. acquired the company May 20, 2005, for 300,000 shares valued at approximately $150,000. In September, Pacific Investments announced it had taken on the name of the Fontana venture.

GEN ID trades on the Pink Sheets as GDLB. Its stock closed at 17 cents a share April 12. Two administrative employees work at the Fontana office. The company's roster lists Hector A. Vernon as president and San Diego attorney Frank DeSantis as vice president.

The company announced in December its preparations to launch proprietary software to analyze single nucleotide polymorphisms, or "snips," in blood samples taken from patients. Snips are common genetic variations in humans.

The company proposes to sell its DNA testing services to doctors to help them find patient medications with fewer adverse reactions.

The company will test the samples at a lab operated by Advanomics Corp. for a cost "as little as $700," GEN ID officials said.

"We're still in development on that. We put that on hold," to pursue the bird flu vaccine, said Tom Nurse, GEN ID Lab investor relations representative.

GEN ID Lab has retained all rights to the vaccine under development at S2 Biosciences. The Fontana company has not disclosed the price it is paying the Canadian company for its research, Nurse said.

GEN ID's chief scientific officer, Steve N. Silaty, is a member of S2 Bioscience's board, Nurse said. "They've been working on it on their own for a couple of years. We don't know when the vaccine will be ready."

Nurse pegged the revenue potential of such a drug as "astronomical," and said the company is unaware who its top competitor might be in commercializing the product.

S2 Biosciences will produce the vaccine and GEN ID will find a manufacturer to bottle and label it, Nurse said. The Fontana company plans to sell the product as "IndentiFlu" following approvals by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

S2 Biosciences will use its proprietary amplification probes and modified PCR reactions to detect the presence or absence of bird flu.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Business Press, San Bernardino, Calif.

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Source: The Business Press

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