SAN FRANCISCO _ With genomics considered by Wall Street ahot investment and by pharmaceutical makers a most promising drugdiscovery tool, it's not surprising competition is keen amongbiotechnology companies practicing the relatively new science.

Human Genome Sciences Inc., of Rockville, Md., and IncytePharmaceuticals Inc., of Palo Alto, Calif., were two of the first puregenomics companies set up to sequence the human genetic code andsell the information as a method for developing drugs that attack theunderlying molecular causes of disease.

Human Genome Sciences allied itself with London-based SmithKlineBeecham plc in a $125 million deal giving the pharmaceuticalcompany favored access to most of the gene sequencing data.

Incyte chose a different course, offering to sell access to its databases on a non-exclusive basis. To date, Incyte has signed up six drugmakers for combined subscription fees of $100 million.

In 1994, Merck & Co., of Whitehouse Station, N.J., jumped into themix with a different kind of effort. It aligned with St. Louis-basedWashington University's Genome Sequencing Center to sequencehuman genes and supply the data free of charge to public data basesmaintained by GenBank at the National Institutes of Health, inBethesda, Md. GenBank is part of a global network of DNAsequence data bases.

All three companies are involved in sequencing and cloningexpressed genes, which represent partial sequences of genes. Byputting the data directly into the public domain, Merck, someobservers suggested, diminished the commercial value of the Incyteand Human Genome Sciences proprietary data bases.

Merck's move also raised the issue of whether keeping the geneticdata proprietary impeded worldwide efforts to find drugs for majordiseases.

At a third annual conference on commercial implications of theHuman Genome Project, which is the global effort to map andsequence the complete set of human genes, Incyte's Randal Scott andMerck's Alan Williamson gave back-to-back presentations in anexpected debate of private vs. public interests involving geneticmaterial. The three-day meeting here ended Wednesday.

Both downplayed the competitive aspects of their efforts, butprovided insights into the question of ownership when it comes tohuman genes.

Scott, Incyte's vice president of research and development, said theMerck data, which now accounts for most of the expressed humangene sequences in GenBank, complements Incyte's data bases, givingthe company more information to analyze for clients.

Williamson, Merck's vice president of basic research in immunologyand inflammation, said, "We had no intention of trying to erode thevalue of data bases at Incyte and Human Genome Sciences. Weenhanced their value."

Williamson said Merck considers the expressed gene sequencesresearch tools for discovering drugs that are years away from beingcommercially available.

Non-exclusive access to the information, he said, "will facilitate drugdiscovery."

Williams also said there was a difference between keeping aproprietary hold on libraries of millions of potentially therapeuticchemical compounds and protecting access to genetic data. Smallmolecule compounds, he said, can be created by anyone. Genes, headded, are unique and part of nature.

Scott said it is unlikely expressed gene sequences are patentable. Fulllength gene sequences could be patented, he said, but the 20-yearprotection likely will run out before "we know what to do with themolecule."

As for progress in sequencing all expressed genes, Scott said themore than 383,000 sequences in Incyte's data bases coupled with thenearly 200,000 sequences it has edited from GenBank representbetween 80,000 and 100,000 individual genes.

And Scott observed, "There's an enormous area of non-overlap."

The number of human genes is a subject of much debate.Traditionally the range has been estimated from 70,000 to 100,000.However, Scott said Incyte researchers now believe there are at least150,000 genes.

Two-Thirds Of All Sequences Available

Merck and Washington University have been sending sequences toGenBank for a year. Williamson said the total as of Feb. 18, 1996,was 258,000, representing about 40,000 genes. That means, headded, at least two-thirds of all known expressed gene sequences arecurrently available in the public data bases.

Merck's goal, Williamson said, is to detail each expressed genesequence, but he added, "I don't know when we'll be finished."

The gene sequences, Scott said, are information in raw form.Considerable work still has to be done to identify what genes theyrepresent, what they do and where they are located on chromosomes.

Those analyses, Scott said, are part of Incyte's information package.

"Genes," Williamson added, "are coded descriptions of biology, nota blueprint." It will take a combined effort of scientists throughoutthe world many years to decipher the code.

Some people, he said, consider genes collectibles, like stamps. "Theyview genes as currency."

Genes, alone, are not necessarily drug targets. They lead the way tomolecules that are, Williamson said.

In developing drugs related to genomics, Merck wants to look at genefamilies, differential gene expression, disease genes and relationshipsbetween human and non-human genes that are similar.

"How many genes does it take to make a drug?" Williamson said,repeating a question he is often asked. "Clearly it's not just one.There is not just one target." n

-- Charles Craig

(c) 1997 American Health Consultants. All rights reserved.