Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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Reuters NewMedia - Thursday April 24, 2003
Greg Frost
Merck has provided the U.S. government anti-viral medicines to see if they work against the virus that causes Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, Gilmartin said during remarks to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce.
Merck, one of the world's biggest makers of vaccines, has asked the government for the SARS virus and its genetic code and is looking at ways to develop a vaccine against the illness, he said.
"The early indications are that this is not a straightforward development process given the nature of the virus," he said.
"We think we have the technology with later vaccines that we have developed ... that may apply here."
Top scientists from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health have said it could take years to analyze the SARS virus and develop a vaccine. Merck has been laboring for a decade to develop one against HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
Merck, based in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, is also looking at other, more novel ways of disrupting the SARS virus and hindering its ability to enter a human cell, Gilmartin said.
The SARS virus, which originated in China and has been carried by air travelers around the world, has killed more than 250 people worldwide.
Separately, Gilmartin also said Merck supports stem cell research but is not currently pursuing embryonic stem cell work because it is at a relatively early stage.
"I think there are ways to do this (stem cell research) in a highly ethical way, consistent with our values and principles, so therefore it is an important area," Gilmartin said.
Stem cell research is a broad but preliminary field based on the discovery of master cells that can give rise to various cells of the body. Most adult tissue and blood contain small numbers of stem cells but the more controversial source is from very early embryos, whose cells can become any kind of cell.
Current U.S. policy strictly limits the amount of publicly funded research that can be done on embryonic stem cells.
Private companies can do as they please, but some legislators are calling for an end to that, too.
Gilmartin said he could not predict how the issue will play out in Washington.
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