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Tuesday, May 29, 2001
Celera plots path in drug discovery
Human genome pioneer begins research for new medicine products
By Stephen Manning
Associated Press
ROCKVILLE, Md. - The second-floor protein factory at Celera Genomics Corp. bears little resemblance to the average industrial work site.
A row of desk-size machines churns away silently in the one-room lab, surrounded by unpacked crates and technicians. Much of the floor space is empty.
But the small machines are working on an industrial genetic scale, hunting for the thousands of proteins that do everything from construct body tissue to color hair.
Those proteins are made under instructions from genes. When genes and their instructions are defective, the effects can be disastrous for a person's health.
Divining the details of protein creation on the molecular level will be the key to developing potentially lifesaving treatments for diseases including cancer.
Research in the field is producing palpable excitement that humanity is on the cusp of discoveries that will transform medicine, prolong life - and earn biotech companies billions of dollars.
That is why Celera opened this second-floor lab, which began operating last month.
"This is the next phase for us," said Celera president J. Craig Venter, surrounded by the protein sequencers. "This is equipment that didn't exist before - it's not cutting-edge, it's bleeding-edge technology."
It was Celera's radical approach to biology that put Venter and Celera in the spotlight as the company deciphered the human genetic code at breakneck speed.
Venter plans to use the same bold methods that made Celera a biotech maverick to challenge the pharmaceutical world.
Celera, which has until now focused on selling access to its gene database, is starting to read that genetic library for clues to finding new drugs and treatments - and license those discoveries to big drug companies for potentially huge royalties.
"Celera is going to be a discovery outsourcing company, and their prospects for succeeding are high," predicts Winton Gibbons, an analyst with William Blair & Co.
The company's methods have, however, drawn criticism from scientific peers. Questions linger about Celera's "shotgun" approach to gene sequencing, one that other scientists claim has left huge gaps in the genetic map.
A recent article in the journal Nature found evidence of errors in Celera's deciphering of the fruit-fly genetic code. The study's author, Stanford researcher Samuel Karlin, suggested Celera's rush to publish was to blame. Celera's competitors have also pounced on those alleged mistakes, saying they will hamstring the company's future drug development.
The urge to be first has been a driving force behind Celera since Venter, a former National Institutes of Health researcher, formed it in 1998 and promptly announced he was going to decipher the human genome by 2001.
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