Genome

Melvin D. Booth, Human Genome Sciences president and chief operating officer for the past three years, has resigned that post to be president and chief operating officer of another Maryland biotechnology star, MedImmune Inc.Rockville-based Human Genome said yesterday that William A. Haseltine, chairman and chief executive officer, will assume Booth's duties when he departs. Booth is expected to assume his post at MedImmune by Nov. 13, said MedImmune spokesman Mark Kaufmann."Booth has the marketing experience and caliber we need to take us to the next level as a growing biotechnology company," Kaufmann said.

Human Genome Sciences Inc., the biotechnology company that has been mapping the codes for human and other genes, said yesterday that it will build a $40 million facility in Rockville to produce new drugs based on its vast storehouse of genetic information.The decision is Maryland's win and Virginia's loss.The publicly held company, which has no production facility now, looked at more than 100 sites in four states before narrowing the field to several in Maryland and Virginia, said William A. Haseltine, Human Genome's chairman and chief executive officer.

Shares in Human Genome Sciences Inc., which have rocketed more than 500 percent in the past 12 months, jumped even higher yesterday in expectation of an announcement today that the company will expand human trials of an experimental drug to control a painful side effect of chemotherapy. Shares in Human Genome gained $9.50, or 5.2 percent, to $194.125 on the Nasdaq. The stock traded as low as $28.75 in February. The drug, Repifermin, is being tested to see if it can control mucositis. The condition is marked by painful sores in the mouth and throat that often follow chemotherapy, which kills the mucosal cells.

Human Genome Sciences announced yesterday its first major contract with the U.S. government for an experimental anthrax drug, more than four years after the bacterial infection terrorized the country. But Wall Street's initial reaction was tepid. The federal government plans to purchase 20,000 doses of the Rockville biotech's treatment for $165.2 million, with delivery and 90 percent of the payment expected in 2008. When complete, the deal will give the 14-year-old company its first-ever product sales revenue.

SEATTLE -- Researchers who are mapping the human genetic code have used such a narrow pool of samples that the results may primarily benefit whites, contends a University of Maryland anthropologist."

WHEN Francis Collins, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, stood before the world's television cameras on Monday to announce the deciphering of the 3.1 billion units of DNA that make up the human genome, he declared, "This is a happy day for humankind." But last summer he shared a different view at a gathering of the nation's pre-eminent geneticists. "We are going to be going through hell, folks, because we will get to our diagnostic abilities ... but we won't have those therapeutic magic bullets that we hoped for," he said.

Johns Hopkins researchers who studied the genomes of people in Iceland and Utah say they may have found a clue to why people are increasingly prone to disease as they age. The answer may not lie specifically in the person's genes, but in chemical changes occurring around the genes that help determine which are active and which are silent. As a result, a person could become more prone to heart disease, cancer and other diseases of aging because certain genes that used to function no longer do so - or vice versa.

Human Genome Sciences, the Rockville company attempting to map the entire human genetic code, said yesterday it has landed European pharmaceutical giant Merck KGaA as another strategic partner to develop and commercialize new drugs from its genomic research.The alliance includes SmithKline Beecham, the world's ninth largest drug maker, which has been collaborating on research with Human Genome since 1993.The latest deal creates a three-company research powerhouse focused on targeting an array of diseases and ailments to develop new vaccines and drugs based on genetic research, industry analysts said.

Shares in Human Genome Sciences Inc. roared into record territory yesterday after the company said it landed a patent on a gene that regulates a key doorway that the AIDS virus uses to infect cells. But one of the nation's leading AIDS researchers said Human Genome might have a patent fight on its hands. Yesterday, shares in the Rockville-based biotechnology firm gained $33.25 -- 21.5 percent -- to close at $188. Remarkably, Human Genome has seen its stock price nearly double since a 2-for-1 stock split Jan. 31. Despite Wall Street's enthusiasm, Dr. Robert C. Gallo, co-discoverer of the human immunodeficiency virus, said yesterday that he believes the patent might be challenged because so many other researchers had played key roles in uncovering how the AIDS virus enters and infects immune system cells.

A team of international scientists has cracked the chicken's genetic code, a development that could aid in the fight against avian flu. The researchers assembled the genome of the Red Jungle Fowl (Gallus gallus), an ancestor of domestic chickens, and have placed the genetic sequence in a public database for use by other scientists. It is the first bird genome to be completed and includes about 1 billion base pairs of DNA, the molecules that carry genetic information necessary for the organization and functioning of most living cells.